System for detecting a fault in a communication system

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a system for transmitting a source test signal directed to a second system of a distributed communication system for a retransmission of the source test signal by the second system and a plurality of other systems of the distributed communication system, receiving a plurality of returned messages from the second system, where each of the plurality of returned messages includes information associated with a signal test performed by the second system and at least one of the plurality of other systems, where the signal test comprises a comparison of a retransmission of the source test signal and an expected signal profile of the source test signal, and determining from the plurality of returned messages whether any one of the plurality of other systems is experiencing a degradation in transmission signal quality. Other embodiments are disclosed.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The subject disclosure relates to a system for detecting a fault in acommunication system.

BACKGROUND

As smart phones and other portable devices increasingly becomeubiquitous, and data usage increases, macrocell base station devices andexisting wireless infrastructure in turn require higher bandwidthcapability in order to address the increased demand. To provideadditional mobile bandwidth, small cell deployment is being pursued,with microcells and picocells providing coverage for much smaller areasthan traditional macrocells.

In addition, most homes and businesses have grown to rely on broadbanddata access for services such as voice, video and Internet browsing,etc. Broadband access networks include satellite, 4G or 5G wireless,power line communication, fiber, cable, and telephone networks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a guided-wave communications system in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a transmission device in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 3 is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of an electromagnetic field distribution in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 4 is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of an electromagnetic field distribution in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 5A is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a frequency response in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 5B is a graphical diagram illustrating example, non-limitingembodiments of a longitudinal cross-section of an insulated wiredepicting fields of guided electromagnetic waves at various operatingfrequencies in accordance with various aspects described herein.

FIG. 6 is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of an electromagnetic field distribution in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of an arc coupler in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of an arc coupler in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 9A is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a stub coupler in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating an example, non-limiting embodiment ofan electromagnetic distribution in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are block diagrams illustrating example, non-limitingembodiments of couplers and transceivers in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a dual stub coupler in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a repeater system in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 13 illustrates a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a bidirectional repeater in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a waveguide system in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a guided-wave communications system in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are block diagrams illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a system for managing a communication systemin accordance with various aspects described herein.

FIG. 17A illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method for detecting and mitigating disturbancesoccurring in a communication network of the system of FIGS. 16A and 16B.

FIG. 17B illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method for detecting and mitigating disturbancesoccurring in a communication network of the system of FIGS. 16A and 16B.

FIG. 18A is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a communication system in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 18B is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a portion of the communication system of FIG. 18A inaccordance with various aspects described herein.

FIGS. 18C-18D are block diagrams illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiments of a communication node of the communication system of FIG.18A in accordance with various aspects described herein.

FIG. 19A is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of downlink and uplink communication techniques for enablinga base station to communicate with communication nodes in accordancewith various aspects described herein.

FIG. 19B is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a communication node in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 19C is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a communication node in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 19D is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a frequency spectrum in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 19E is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a frequency spectrum in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 19F is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a frequency spectrum in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 19G is a graphical diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a frequency spectrum in accordance with various aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 19H is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a transmitter in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 19I is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a receiver in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20A illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20B illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20C illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20D illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20E illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20F illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20G illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20H illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20I illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20J illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 20K illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 21A illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIGS. 21B and 21C illustrate block diagrams of example, non-limitingembodiments of distributed antenna systems in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIGS. 21D-21E illustrate flow diagrams of example, non-limitingembodiments of method in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 21F illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a distributed communication system in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of amobile network platform in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of acommunication device in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more embodiments are now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide athorough understanding of the various embodiments. It is evident,however, that the various embodiments can be practiced without thesedetails (and without applying to any particular networked environment orstandard).

In an embodiment, a guided wave communication system is presented forsending and receiving communication signals such as data or othersignaling via guided electromagnetic waves. The guided electromagneticwaves include, for example, surface waves or other electromagnetic wavesthat are bound to or guided by a transmission medium. It will beappreciated that a variety of transmission media can be utilized withguided wave communications without departing from example embodiments.Examples of such transmission media can include one or more of thefollowing, either alone or in one or more combinations: wires, whetherinsulated or not, and whether single-stranded or multi-stranded;conductors of other shapes or configurations including wire bundles,cables, rods, rails, pipes; non-conductors such as dielectric pipes,rods, rails, or other dielectric members; combinations of conductors anddielectric materials; or other guided wave transmission media.

The inducement of guided electromagnetic waves on a transmission mediumcan be independent of any electrical potential, charge or current thatis injected or otherwise transmitted through the transmission medium aspart of an electrical circuit. For example, in the case where thetransmission medium is a wire, it is to be appreciated that while asmall current in the wire may be formed in response to the propagationof the guided waves along the wire, this can be due to the propagationof the electromagnetic wave along the wire surface, and is not formed inresponse to electrical potential, charge or current that is injectedinto the wire as part of an electrical circuit. The electromagneticwaves traveling on the wire therefore do not require a circuit topropagate along the wire surface. The wire therefore is a single wiretransmission line that is not part of a circuit. Also, in someembodiments, a wire is not necessary, and the electromagnetic waves canpropagate along a single line transmission medium that is not a wire.

More generally, “guided electromagnetic waves” or “guided waves” asdescribed by the subject disclosure are affected by the presence of aphysical object that is at least a part of the transmission medium(e.g., a bare wire or other conductors, a dielectric, an insulated wire,a conduit or other hollow elements, a bundle of insulated wires that iscoated, covered or surrounded by a dielectric or insulator or other wirebundles, or another form of solid, liquid or otherwise non-gaseoustransmission medium) so as to be at least partially bound to or guidedby the physical object and so as to propagate along a transmission pathof the physical object. Such a physical object can operate as at least apart of a transmission medium that guides, by way of an interface of thetransmission medium (e.g., an outer surface, inner surface, an interiorportion between the outer and the inner surfaces or other boundariesbetween elements of the transmission medium), the propagation of guidedelectromagnetic waves, which in turn can carry energy, data and/or othersignals along the transmission path from a sending device to a receivingdevice.

Unlike free space propagation of wireless signals such as unguided (orunbounded) electromagnetic waves that decrease in intensity inversely bythe square of the distance traveled by the unguided electromagneticwaves, guided electromagnetic waves can propagate along a transmissionmedium with less loss in magnitude per unit distance than experienced byunguided electromagnetic waves.

Unlike electrical signals, guided electromagnetic waves can propagatefrom a sending device to a receiving device without requiring a separateelectrical return path between the sending device and the receivingdevice. As a consequence, guided electromagnetic waves can propagatefrom a sending device to a receiving device along a transmission mediumhaving no conductive components (e.g., a dielectric strip), or via atransmission medium having no more than a single conductor (e.g., asingle bare wire or insulated wire). Even if a transmission mediumincludes one or more conductive components and the guidedelectromagnetic waves propagating along the transmission medium generatecurrents that flow in the one or more conductive components in adirection of the guided electromagnetic waves, such guidedelectromagnetic waves can propagate along the transmission medium from asending device to a receiving device without requiring a flow ofopposing currents on an electrical return path between the sendingdevice and the receiving device.

In a non-limiting illustration, consider electrical systems thattransmit and receive electrical signals between sending and receivingdevices by way of conductive media. Such systems generally rely onelectrically separate forward and return paths. For instance, consider acoaxial cable having a center conductor and a ground shield that areseparated by an insulator. Typically, in an electrical system a firstterminal of a sending (or receiving) device can be connected to thecenter conductor, and a second terminal of the sending (or receiving)device can be connected to the ground shield. If the sending deviceinjects an electrical signal in the center conductor via the firstterminal, the electrical signal will propagate along the centerconductor causing forward currents in the center conductor, and returncurrents in the ground shield. The same conditions apply for a twoterminal receiving device.

In contrast, consider a guided wave communication system such asdescribed in the subject disclosure, which can utilize differentembodiments of a transmission medium (including among others a coaxialcable) for transmitting and receiving guided electromagnetic waveswithout an electrical return path. In one embodiment, for example, theguided wave communication system of the subject disclosure can beconfigured to induce guided electromagnetic waves that propagate alongan outer surface of a coaxial cable. Although the guided electromagneticwaves will cause forward currents on the ground shield, the guidedelectromagnetic waves do not require return currents to enable theguided electromagnetic waves to propagate along the outer surface of thecoaxial cable. The same can be said of other transmission media used bya guided wave communication system for the transmission and reception ofguided electromagnetic waves. For example, guided electromagnetic wavesinduced by the guided wave communication system on an outer surface of abare wire, or an insulated wire can propagate along the bare wire or theinsulated bare wire without an electrical return path.

Consequently, electrical systems that require two or more conductors forcarrying forward and reverse currents on separate conductors to enablethe propagation of electrical signals injected by a sending device aredistinct from guided wave systems that induce guided electromagneticwaves on an interface of a transmission medium without the need of anelectrical return path to enable the propagation of the guidedelectromagnetic waves along the interface of the transmission medium.

It is further noted that guided electromagnetic waves as described inthe subject disclosure can have an electromagnetic field structure thatlies primarily or substantially outside of a transmission medium so asto be bound to or guided by the transmission medium and so as topropagate non-trivial distances on or along an outer surface of thetransmission medium. In other embodiments, guided electromagnetic wavescan have an electromagnetic field structure that lies primarily orsubstantially inside a transmission medium so as to be bound to orguided by the transmission medium and so as to propagate non-trivialdistances within the transmission medium. In other embodiments, guidedelectromagnetic waves can have an electromagnetic field structure thatlies partially inside and partially outside a transmission medium so asto be bound to or guided by the transmission medium and so as topropagate non-trivial distances along the transmission medium. Thedesired electronic field structure in an embodiment may vary based upona variety of factors, including the desired transmission distance, thecharacteristics of the transmission medium itself, and environmentalconditions/characteristics outside of the transmission medium (e.g.,presence of rain, fog, atmospheric conditions, etc.).

It is further noted that guided wave systems as described in the subjectdisclosure also differ from fiber optical systems. Guided wave systemsof the subject disclosure can induce guided electromagnetic waves on aninterface of a transmission medium constructed of an opaque material(e.g., a dielectric cable made of polyethylene) or a material that isotherwise resistive to the transmission of light waves (e.g., a bareconductive wire or an insulated conductive wire) enabling propagation ofthe guided electromagnetic waves along the interface of the transmissionmedium over non-trivial distances. Fiber optic systems in contrastcannot function with a transmission medium that is opaque or otherwiseresistive to the transmission of light waves.

Various embodiments described herein relate to coupling devices, thatcan be referred to as “waveguide coupling devices”, “waveguide couplers”or more simply as “couplers”, “coupling devices” or “launchers” forlaunching and/or extracting guided electromagnetic waves to and from atransmission medium at millimeter-wave frequencies (e.g., 30 to 300GHz), wherein the wavelength can be small compared to one or moredimensions of the coupling device and/or the transmission medium such asthe circumference of a wire or other cross sectional dimensions, orlower microwave frequencies such as 300 MHz to 30 GHz. Transmissions canbe generated to propagate as waves guided by a coupling device, such as:a strip, arc or other lengths of dielectric material; a horn, monopole,rod, slot or other antennas; an array of antennas; a magnetic resonantcavity, or other resonant couplers; a coil, a strip line, a waveguide orother coupling devices. In operation, the coupling device receives anelectromagnetic wave from a transmitter or transmission medium. Theelectromagnetic field structure of the electromagnetic wave can becarried inside the coupling device, outside the coupling device or somecombination thereof. When the coupling device is in close proximity to atransmission medium, at least a portion of an electromagnetic wavecouples to or is bound to the transmission medium, and continues topropagate as guided electromagnetic waves. In a reciprocal fashion, acoupling device can extract guided waves from a transmission medium andtransfer these electromagnetic waves to a receiver.

According to an example embodiment, a surface wave is a type of guidedwave that is guided by a surface of a transmission medium, such as anexterior or outer surface of the wire, or another surface of the wirethat is adjacent to or exposed to another type of medium havingdifferent properties (e.g., dielectric properties). Indeed, in anexample embodiment, a surface of the wire that guides a surface wave canrepresent a transitional surface between two different types of media.For example, in the case of a bare or uninsulated wire, the surface ofthe wire can be the outer or exterior conductive surface of the bare oruninsulated wire that is exposed to air or free space. As anotherexample, in the case of insulated wire, the surface of the wire can bethe conductive portion of the wire that meets the insulator portion ofthe wire, or can otherwise be the insulator surface of the wire that isexposed to air or free space, or can otherwise be any material regionbetween the insulator surface of the wire and the conductive portion ofthe wire that meets the insulator portion of the wire, depending uponthe relative differences in the properties (e.g., dielectric properties)of the insulator, air, and/or the conductor and further dependent on thefrequency and propagation mode or modes of the guided wave.

According to an example embodiment, the term “about” a wire or othertransmission media used in conjunction with a guided wave can includefundamental guided wave propagation modes such as a guided wave having acircular or substantially circular field distribution, a symmetricalelectromagnetic field distribution (e.g., electric field, magneticfield, electromagnetic field, etc.) or other fundamental mode patternsat least partially around a wire or other transmission media. Inaddition, when a guided wave propagates “about” a wire or othertransmission media, it can do so according to a guided wave propagationmode that includes not only the fundamental wave propagation modes(e.g., zero order modes), but additionally or alternativelynon-fundamental wave propagation modes such as higher-order guided wavemodes (e.g., 1^(st) order modes, 2^(nd) order modes, etc.), asymmetricalmodes and/or other guided (e.g., surface) waves that have non-circularfield distributions around a wire or other transmission media. As usedherein, the term “guided wave mode” refers to a guided wave propagationmode of a transmission medium, coupling device or other systemcomponents of a guided wave communication system.

For example, such non-circular field distributions can be unilateral ormulti-lateral with one or more axial lobes characterized by relativelyhigher field strength and/or one or more nulls or null regionscharacterized by relatively low-field strength, zero-field strength orsubstantially zero-field strength. Further, the field distribution canotherwise vary as a function of azimuthal orientation around the wiresuch that one or more angular regions around the wire have an electricor magnetic field strength (or combination thereof) that is higher thanone or more other angular regions of azimuthal orientation, according toan example embodiment. It will be appreciated that the relativeorientations or positions of the guided wave higher order modes orasymmetrical modes can vary as the guided wave travels along the wire.

As used herein, the term “millimeter-wave” can refer to electromagneticwaves/signals that fall within the “millimeter-wave frequency band” of30 GHz to 300 GHz. The term “microwave” can refer to electromagneticwaves/signals that fall within a “microwave frequency band” of 300 MHzto 300 GHz. The term “radio frequency” or “RF” can refer toelectromagnetic waves/signals that fall within the “radio frequencyband” of 10 kHz to 1 THz. It is appreciated that wireless signals,electrical signals, and guided electromagnetic waves as described in thesubject disclosure can be configured to operate at any desirablefrequency range, such as, for example, at frequencies within, above orbelow millimeter-wave and/or microwave frequency bands. In particular,when a coupling device or transmission medium includes a conductiveelement, the frequency of the guided electromagnetic waves that arecarried by the coupling device and/or propagate along the transmissionmedium can be below the mean collision frequency of the electrons in theconductive element. Further, the frequency of the guided electromagneticwaves that are carried by the coupling device and/or propagate along thetransmission medium can be a non-optical frequency, e.g., a radiofrequency below the range of optical frequencies that begins at 1 THz.

As used herein, the term “antenna” can refer to a device that is part ofa transmitting or receiving system to transmit/radiate or receivewireless signals.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a method can includetransmitting, by a first antenna system of a distributed antenna system,a source wireless test signal directed to a second antenna system of thedistributed antenna system for a sequential retransmission of the sourcewireless test signal by the second antenna system and a plurality ofother antenna systems of the distributed antenna system, receiving, bythe first antenna system, a plurality of returned messages from thesecond antenna system, wherein each of the plurality of returnedmessages includes information associated with a signal test performed bythe second antenna system and at least one of the plurality of otherantenna systems, wherein the signal test comprises a comparison of aretransmission of the source wireless test signal and an expected signalprofile of the source wireless test signal, and determining, by thefirst antenna system, from the plurality of returned messages whetherany one of the plurality of other antenna systems is experiencing anoperational fault.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a first system can include aprocessing system including a processor, and a memory that storesexecutable instructions that, when executed by the processing system,facilitate performance of operations. The operations can includetransmitting a source test signal directed to a second system of adistributed communication system for a sequential retransmission of thesource test signal by the second system and a plurality of other systemsof the distributed communication system, receiving a plurality ofreturned messages from the second system, wherein each of the pluralityof returned messages includes information associated with a signal testperformed by the second system and at least one of the plurality ofother systems, wherein the signal test comprises a comparison of aretransmission of the source test signal and an expected signal profileof the source test signal, and determining from the plurality ofreturned messages whether any one of the plurality of other systems isexperiencing an operational fault.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a first system can includemeans for transmitting a source test signal directed to a second systemof a distributed communication system for a retransmission of the sourcetest signal by the second system and a plurality of other systems of thedistributed communication system, means for receiving a plurality ofreturned messages from the second system, wherein each of the pluralityof returned messages includes information associated with a signal testperformed by the second system and at least one of the plurality ofother systems, wherein the signal test comprises a comparison of aretransmission of the source test signal and an expected signal profileof the source test signal, and means for determining from the pluralityof returned messages whether any one of the plurality of other systemsis experiencing a degradation in transmission signal quality.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram 100 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a guided wave communications system is shown.In operation, a transmission device 101 receives one or morecommunication signals 110 from a communication network or othercommunications devices that include data and generates guided waves 120to convey the data via the transmission medium 125 to the transmissiondevice 102. The transmission device 102 receives the guided waves 120and converts them to communication signals 112 that include the data fortransmission to a communications network or other communicationsdevices. The guided waves 120 can be modulated to convey data via amodulation technique such as phase shift keying, frequency shift keying,quadrature amplitude modulation, amplitude modulation, multi-carriermodulation such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing and viamultiple access techniques such as frequency division multiplexing, timedivision multiplexing, code division multiplexing, multiplexing viadiffering wave propagation modes and via other modulation and accessstrategies.

The communication network or networks can include a wirelesscommunication network such as a mobile data network, a cellular voiceand data network, a wireless local area network (e.g., WiFi or an 802.xxnetwork), a satellite communications network, a personal area network orother wireless networks. The communication network or networks can alsoinclude a wired communication network such as a telephone network, anEthernet network, a local area network, a wide area network such as theInternet, a broadband access network, a cable network, a fiber opticnetwork, or other wired networks. The communication devices can includea network edge device, bridge device or home gateway, a set-top box,broadband modem, telephone adapter, access point, base station, or otherfixed communication devices, a mobile communication device such as anautomotive gateway or automobile, laptop computer, tablet, smartphone,cellular telephone, or other communication devices.

In an example embodiment, the guided wave communication system 100 canoperate in a bi-directional fashion where transmission device 102receives one or more communication signals 112 from a communicationnetwork or device that includes other data and generates guided waves122 to convey the other data via the transmission medium 125 to thetransmission device 101. In this mode of operation, the transmissiondevice 101 receives the guided waves 122 and converts them tocommunication signals 110 that include the other data for transmissionto a communications network or device. The guided waves 122 can bemodulated to convey data via a modulation technique such as phase shiftkeying, frequency shift keying, quadrature amplitude modulation,amplitude modulation, multi-carrier modulation such as orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing and via multiple access techniques suchas frequency division multiplexing, time division multiplexing, codedivision multiplexing, multiplexing via differing wave propagation modesand via other modulation and access strategies.

The transmission medium 125 can include a cable having at least oneinner portion surrounded by a dielectric material such as an insulatoror other dielectric covers, coatings or other dielectric materials, thedielectric material having an outer surface and a correspondingcircumference. In an example embodiment, the transmission medium 125operates as a single-wire transmission line to guide the transmission ofan electromagnetic wave. When the transmission medium 125 is implementedas a single wire transmission system, it can include a wire. The wirecan be insulated or uninsulated, and single-stranded or multi-stranded(e.g., braided). In other embodiments, the transmission medium 125 cancontain conductors of other shapes or configurations including wirebundles, cables, rods, rails, pipes. In addition, the transmissionmedium 125 can include non-conductors such as dielectric pipes, rods,rails, or other dielectric members; combinations of conductors anddielectric materials, conductors without dielectric materials or otherguided wave transmission media. It should be noted that the transmissionmedium 125 can otherwise include any of the transmission mediapreviously discussed.

Further, as previously discussed, the guided waves 120 and 122 can becontrasted with radio transmissions over free space/air or conventionalpropagation of electrical power or signals through the conductor of awire via an electrical circuit. In addition to the propagation of guidedwaves 120 and 122, the transmission medium 125 may optionally containone or more wires that propagate electrical power or other communicationsignals in a conventional manner as a part of one or more electricalcircuits.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram 200 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a transmission device is shown. Thetransmission device 101 or 102 includes a communications interface (I/F)205, a transceiver 210 and a coupler 220.

In an example of operation, the communications interface 205 receives acommunication signal 110 or 112 that includes data. In variousembodiments, the communications interface 205 can include a wirelessinterface for receiving a wireless communication signal in accordancewith a wireless standard protocol such as LTE or other cellular voiceand data protocols, WiFi or an 802.11 protocol, WIMAX protocol, UltraWideband protocol, Bluetooth protocol, Zigbee protocol, a directbroadcast satellite (DBS) or other satellite communication protocols orother wireless protocols. In addition or in the alternative, thecommunications interface 205 includes a wired interface that operates inaccordance with an Ethernet protocol, universal serial bus (USB)protocol, a data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS)protocol, a digital subscriber line (DSL) protocol, a Firewire (IEEE1394) protocol, or other wired protocols. In additional tostandards-based protocols, the communications interface 205 can operatein conjunction with other wired or wireless protocols. In addition, thecommunications interface 205 can optionally operate in conjunction witha protocol stack that includes multiple protocol layers including a MACprotocol, transport protocol, application protocol, etc.

In an example of operation, the transceiver 210 generates anelectromagnetic wave based on the communication signal 110 or 112 toconvey the data. The electromagnetic wave has at least one carrierfrequency and at least one corresponding wavelength. The carrierfrequency can be within a millimeter-wave frequency band of 30 GHz-300GHz, such as 60 GHz or a carrier frequency in the range of 30-40 GHz ora lower frequency band of 300 MHz-30 GHz in the microwave frequencyrange such as 26-30 GHz, 11 GHz, 6 GHz or 3 GHz, but it will beappreciated that other carrier frequencies are possible in otherembodiments. In one mode of operation, the transceiver 210 merelyupconverts the communications signal or signals 110 or 112 fortransmission of the electromagnetic signal in the microwave ormillimeter-wave band as a guided electromagnetic wave that is guided byor bound to the transmission medium 125. In another mode of operation,the communications interface 205 either converts the communicationsignal 110 or 112 to a baseband or near baseband signal or extracts thedata from the communication signal 110 or 112 and the transceiver 210modulates a high-frequency carrier with the data, the baseband or nearbaseband signal for transmission. It should be appreciated that thetransceiver 210 can modulate the data received via the communicationsignal 110 or 112 to preserve one or more data communication protocolsof the communication signal 110 or 112 either by encapsulation in thepayload of a different protocol or by simple frequency shifting. In thealternative, the transceiver 210 can otherwise translate the datareceived via the communication signal 110 or 112 to a protocol that isdifferent from the data communication protocol or protocols of thecommunication signal 110 or 112.

In an example of operation, the coupler 220 couples the electromagneticwave to the transmission medium 125 as a guided electromagnetic wave toconvey the communications signal or signals 110 or 112. While the priordescription has focused on the operation of the transceiver 210 as atransmitter, the transceiver 210 can also operate to receiveelectromagnetic waves that convey other data from the single wiretransmission medium via the coupler 220 and to generate communicationssignals 110 or 112, via communications interface 205 that includes theother data. Consider embodiments where an additional guidedelectromagnetic wave conveys other data that also propagates along thetransmission medium 125. The coupler 220 can also couple this additionalelectromagnetic wave from the transmission medium 125 to the transceiver210 for reception.

The transmission device 101 or 102 includes an optional trainingcontroller 230. In an example embodiment, the training controller 230 isimplemented by a standalone processor or a processor that is shared withone or more other components of the transmission device 101 or 102. Thetraining controller 230 selects the carrier frequencies, modulationschemes and/or guided wave modes for the guided electromagnetic wavesbased on feedback data received by the transceiver 210 from at least oneremote transmission device coupled to receive the guided electromagneticwave.

In an example embodiment, a guided electromagnetic wave transmitted by aremote transmission device 101 or 102 conveys data that also propagatesalong the transmission medium 125. The data from the remote transmissiondevice 101 or 102 can be generated to include the feedback data. Inoperation, the coupler 220 also couples the guided electromagnetic wavefrom the transmission medium 125 and the transceiver receives theelectromagnetic wave and processes the electromagnetic wave to extractthe feedback data.

In an example embodiment, the training controller 230 operates based onthe feedback data to evaluate a plurality of candidate frequencies,modulation schemes and/or transmission modes to select a carrierfrequency, modulation scheme and/or transmission mode to enhanceperformance, such as throughput, signal strength, reduce propagationloss, etc.

Consider the following example: a transmission device 101 beginsoperation under control of the training controller 230 by sending aplurality of guided waves as test signals such as pilot waves or othertest signals at a corresponding plurality of candidate frequenciesand/or candidate modes directed to a remote transmission device 102coupled to the transmission medium 125. The guided waves can include, inaddition or in the alternative, test data. The test data can indicatethe particular candidate frequency and/or guide-wave mode of the signal.In an embodiment, the training controller 230 at the remote transmissiondevice 102 receives the test signals and/or test data from any of theguided waves that were properly received and determines the bestcandidate frequency and/or guided wave mode, a set of acceptablecandidate frequencies and/or guided wave modes, or a rank ordering ofcandidate frequencies and/or guided wave modes. This selection ofcandidate frequenc(ies) or/and guided-mode(s) are generated by thetraining controller 230 based on one or more optimizing criteria such asreceived signal strength, bit error rate, packet error rate, signal tonoise ratio, propagation loss, etc. The training controller 230generates feedback data that indicates the selection of candidatefrequenc(ies) or/and guided wave mode(s) and sends the feedback data tothe transceiver 210 for transmission to the transmission device 101. Thetransmission device 101 and 102 can then communicate data with oneanother based on the selection of candidate frequenc(ies) or/and guidedwave mode(s).

In other embodiments, the guided electromagnetic waves that contain thetest signals and/or test data are reflected back, repeated back orotherwise looped back by the remote transmission device 102 to thetransmission device 101 for reception and analysis by the trainingcontroller 230 of the transmission device 101 that initiated thesewaves. For example, the transmission device 101 can send a signal to theremote transmission device 102 to initiate a test mode where a physicalreflector is switched on the line, a termination impedance is changed tocause reflections, a loop back mode is switched on to coupleelectromagnetic waves back to the source transmission device 102, and/ora repeater mode is enabled to amplify and retransmit the electromagneticwaves back to the source transmission device 102. The trainingcontroller 230 at the source transmission device 102 receives the testsignals and/or test data from any of the guided waves that were properlyreceived and determines selection of candidate frequenc(ies) or/andguided wave mode(s).

While the procedure above has been described in a start-up orinitialization mode of operation, each transmission device 101 or 102can send test signals, evaluate candidate frequencies or guided wavemodes via non-test such as normal transmissions or otherwise evaluatecandidate frequencies or guided wave modes at other times orcontinuously as well. In an example embodiment, the communicationprotocol between the transmission devices 101 and 102 can include anon-request or periodic test mode where either full testing or morelimited testing of a subset of candidate frequencies and guided wavemodes are tested and evaluated. In other modes of operation, there-entry into such a test mode can be triggered by a degradation ofperformance due to a disturbance, weather conditions, etc. In an exampleembodiment, the receiver bandwidth of the transceiver 210 is eithersufficiently wide or swept to receive all candidate frequencies or canbe selectively adjusted by the training controller 230 to a trainingmode where the receiver bandwidth of the transceiver 210 is sufficientlywide or swept to receive all candidate frequencies.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a graphical diagram 300 illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of an electromagnetic fielddistribution is shown. In this embodiment, a transmission medium 125 inair includes an inner conductor 301 and an insulating jacket 302 ofdielectric material, as shown in cross section. The diagram 300 includesdifferent gray-scales that represent differing electromagnetic fieldstrengths generated by the propagation of the guided wave having anasymmetrical and non-fundamental guided wave mode.

In particular, the electromagnetic field distribution corresponds to amodal “sweet spot” that enhances guided electromagnetic wave propagationalong an insulated transmission medium and reduces end-to-endtransmission loss. In this particular mode, electromagnetic waves areguided by the transmission medium 125 to propagate along an outersurface of the transmission medium—in this case, the outer surface ofthe insulating jacket 302. Electromagnetic waves are partially embeddedin the insulator and partially radiating on the outer surface of theinsulator. In this fashion, electromagnetic waves are “lightly” coupledto the insulator so as to enable electromagnetic wave propagation atlong distances with low propagation loss.

As shown, the guided wave has a field structure that lies primarily orsubstantially outside of the transmission medium 125 that serves toguide the electromagnetic waves. The regions inside the conductor 301have little or no field. Likewise regions inside the insulating jacket302 have low field strength. The majority of the electromagnetic fieldstrength is distributed in the lobes 304 at the outer surface of theinsulating jacket 302 and in close proximity thereof. The presence of anasymmetric guided wave mode is shown by the high electromagnetic fieldstrengths at the top and bottom of the outer surface of the insulatingjacket 302 (in the orientation of the diagram)—as opposed to very smallfield strengths on the other sides of the insulating jacket 302.

The example shown corresponds to a 38 GHz electromagnetic wave guided bya wire with a diameter of 1.1 cm and a dielectric insulation ofthickness of 0.36 cm. Because the electromagnetic wave is guided by thetransmission medium 125 and the majority of the field strength isconcentrated in the air outside of the insulating jacket 302 within alimited distance of the outer surface, the guided wave can propagatelongitudinally down the transmission medium 125 with very low loss. Inthe example shown, this “limited distance” corresponds to a distancefrom the outer surface that is less than half the largest crosssectional dimension of the transmission medium 125. In this case, thelargest cross sectional dimension of the wire corresponds to the overalldiameter of 1.82 cm, however, this value can vary with the size andshape of the transmission medium 125. For example, should thetransmission medium 125 be of a rectangular shape with a height of 0.3cm and a width of 0.4 cm, the largest cross sectional dimension would bethe diagonal of 0.5 cm and the corresponding limited distance would be0.25 cm. The dimensions of the area containing the majority of the fieldstrength also vary with the frequency, and in general, increase ascarrier frequencies decrease.

It should also be noted that the components of a guided wavecommunication system, such as couplers and transmission media can havetheir own cut-off frequencies for each guided wave mode. The cut-offfrequency generally sets forth the lowest frequency that a particularguided wave mode is designed to be supported by that particularcomponent. In an example embodiment, the particular asymmetric mode ofpropagation shown is induced on the transmission medium 125 by anelectromagnetic wave having a frequency that falls within a limitedrange (such as Fc to 2Fc) of the lower cut-off frequency Fc for thisparticular asymmetric mode. The lower cut-off frequency Fc is particularto the characteristics of transmission medium 125. For embodiments asshown that include an inner conductor 301 surrounded by an insulatingjacket 302, this cutoff frequency can vary based on the dimensions andproperties of the insulating jacket 302 and potentially the dimensionsand properties of the inner conductor 301 and can be determinedexperimentally to have a desired mode pattern. It should be notedhowever, that similar effects can be found for a hollow dielectric orinsulator without an inner conductor. In this case, the cutoff frequencycan vary based on the dimensions and properties of the hollow dielectricor insulator.

At frequencies lower than the lower cut-off frequency, the asymmetricmode is difficult to induce in the transmission medium 125 and fails topropagate for all but trivial distances. As the frequency increasesabove the limited range of frequencies about the cut-off frequency, theasymmetric mode shifts more and more inward of the insulating jacket302. At frequencies much larger than the cut-off frequency, the fieldstrength is no longer concentrated outside of the insulating jacket, butprimarily inside of the insulating jacket 302. While the transmissionmedium 125 provides strong guidance to the electromagnetic wave andpropagation is still possible, ranges are more limited by increasedlosses due to propagation within the insulating jacket 302—as opposed tothe surrounding air.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a graphical diagram 400 illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of an electromagnetic fielddistribution is shown. In particular, a cross section diagram 400,similar to FIG. 3 is shown with common reference numerals used to referto similar elements. The example shown corresponds to a 60 GHz waveguided by a wire with a diameter of 1.1 cm and a dielectric insulationof thickness of 0.36 cm. Because the frequency of the guided wave isabove the limited range of the cut-off frequency of this particularasymmetric mode, much of the field strength has shifted inward of theinsulating jacket 302. In particular, the field strength is concentratedprimarily inside of the insulating jacket 302. While the transmissionmedium 125 provides strong guidance to the electromagnetic wave andpropagation is still possible, ranges are more limited when comparedwith the embodiment of FIG. 3, by increased losses due to propagationwithin the insulating jacket 302.

Referring now to FIG. 5A, a graphical diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a frequency response is shown. In particular,diagram 500 presents a graph of end-to-end loss (in dB) as a function offrequency, overlaid with electromagnetic field distributions 510, 520and 530 at three points for a 200 cm insulated medium voltage wire. Theboundary between the insulator and the surrounding air is represented byreference numeral 525 in each electromagnetic field distribution.

As discussed in conjunction with FIG. 3, an example of a desiredasymmetric mode of propagation shown is induced on the transmissionmedium 125 by an electromagnetic wave having a frequency that fallswithin a limited range (such as Fc to 2Fc) of the lower cut-offfrequency Fc of the transmission medium for this particular asymmetricmode. In particular, the electromagnetic field distribution 520 at 6 GHzfalls within this modal “sweet spot” that enhances electromagnetic wavepropagation along an insulated transmission medium and reducesend-to-end transmission loss. In this particular mode, guided waves arepartially embedded in the insulator and partially radiating on the outersurface of the insulator. In this fashion, the electromagnetic waves are“lightly” coupled to the insulator so as to enable guidedelectromagnetic wave propagation at long distances with low propagationloss.

At lower frequencies represented by the electromagnetic fielddistribution 510 at 3 GHz, the asymmetric mode radiates more heavilygenerating higher propagation losses. At higher frequencies representedby the electromagnetic field distribution 530 at 9 GHz, the asymmetricmode shifts more and more inward of the insulating jacket providing toomuch absorption, again generating higher propagation losses.

Referring now to FIG. 5B, a graphical diagram 550 illustrating example,non-limiting embodiments of a longitudinal cross-section of atransmission medium 125, such as an insulated wire, depicting fields ofguided electromagnetic waves at various operating frequencies is shown.As shown in diagram 556, when the guided electromagnetic waves are atapproximately the cutoff frequency (f_(c)) corresponding to the modal“sweet spot”, the guided electromagnetic waves are loosely coupled tothe insulated wire so that absorption is reduced, and the fields of theguided electromagnetic waves are bound sufficiently to reduce the amountradiated into the environment (e.g., air). Because absorption andradiation of the fields of the guided electromagnetic waves is low,propagation losses are consequently low, enabling the guidedelectromagnetic waves to propagate for longer distances.

As shown in diagram 554, propagation losses increase when an operatingfrequency of the guide electromagnetic waves increases above abouttwo-times the cutoff frequency (f_(c))—or as referred to, above therange of the “sweet spot”. More of the field strength of theelectromagnetic wave is driven inside the insulating layer, increasingpropagation losses. At frequencies much higher than the cutoff frequency(f_(c)) the guided electromagnetic waves are strongly bound to theinsulated wire as a result of the fields emitted by the guidedelectromagnetic waves being concentrated in the insulation layer of thewire, as shown in diagram 552. This in turn raises propagation lossesfurther due to absorption of the guided electromagnetic waves by theinsulation layer. Similarly, propagation losses increase when theoperating frequency of the guided electromagnetic waves is substantiallybelow the cutoff frequency (f_(c)), as shown in diagram 558. Atfrequencies much lower than the cutoff frequency (f_(c)) the guidedelectromagnetic waves are weakly (or nominally) bound to the insulatedwire and thereby tend to radiate into the environment (e.g., air), whichin turn, raises propagation losses due to radiation of the guidedelectromagnetic waves.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a graphical diagram 600 illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of an electromagnetic fielddistribution is shown. In this embodiment, a transmission medium 602 isa bare wire, as shown in cross section. The diagram 300 includesdifferent gray-scales that represent differing electromagnetic fieldstrengths generated by the propagation of a guided wave having asymmetrical and fundamental guided wave mode at a single carrierfrequency.

In this particular mode, electromagnetic waves are guided by thetransmission medium 602 to propagate along an outer surface of thetransmission medium—in this case, the outer surface of the bare wire.Electromagnetic waves are “lightly” coupled to the wire so as to enableelectromagnetic wave propagation at long distances with low propagationloss. As shown, the guided wave has a field structure that liessubstantially outside of the transmission medium 602 that serves toguide the electromagnetic waves. The regions inside the conductor 602have little or no field.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a block diagram 700 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of an arc coupler is shown. In particular acoupling device is presented for use in a transmission device, such astransmission device 101 or 102 presented in conjunction with FIG. 1. Thecoupling device includes an arc coupler 704 coupled to a transmittercircuit 712 and termination or damper 714. The arc coupler 704 can bemade of a dielectric material, or other low-loss insulators (e.g.,Teflon, polyethylene, etc.), or made of a conducting (e.g., metallic,non-metallic, etc.) material, or any combination of the foregoingmaterials. As shown, the arc coupler 704 operates as a waveguide and hasa wave 706 propagating as a guided wave about a waveguide surface of thearc coupler 704. In the embodiment shown, at least a portion of the arccoupler 704 can be placed near a wire 702 or other transmission media,(such as transmission medium 125), in order to facilitate couplingbetween the arc coupler 704 and the wire 702 or other transmissionmedia, as described herein to launch the guided wave 708 on the wire.The arc coupler 704 can be placed such that a portion of the curved arccoupler 704 is tangential to, and parallel or substantially parallel tothe wire 702. The portion of the arc coupler 704 that is parallel to thewire can be an apex of the curve, or any point where a tangent of thecurve is parallel to the wire 702. When the arc coupler 704 ispositioned or placed thusly, the wave 706 travelling along the arccoupler 704 couples, at least in part, to the wire 702, and propagatesas guided wave 708 around or about the wire surface of the wire 702 andlongitudinally along the wire 702. The guided wave 708 can becharacterized as a surface wave or other electromagnetic waves that isguided by or bound to the wire 702 or other transmission media.

A portion of the wave 706 that does not couple to the wire 702propagates as a wave 710 along the arc coupler 704. It will beappreciated that the arc coupler 704 can be configured and arranged in avariety of positions in relation to the wire 702 to achieve a desiredlevel of coupling or non-coupling of the wave 706 to the wire 702. Forexample, the curvature and/or length of the arc coupler 704 that isparallel or substantially parallel, as well as its separation distance(which can include zero separation distance in an embodiment), to thewire 702 can be varied without departing from example embodiments.Likewise, the arrangement of arc coupler 704 in relation to the wire 702may be varied based upon considerations of the respective intrinsiccharacteristics (e.g., thickness, composition, electromagneticproperties, etc.) of the wire 702 and the arc coupler 704, as well asthe characteristics (e.g., frequency, energy level, etc.) of the waves706 and 708.

The guided wave 708 stays parallel or substantially parallel to the wire702, even as the wire 702 bends and flexes. Bends in the wire 702 canincrease transmission losses, which are also dependent on wirediameters, frequency, and materials. If the dimensions of the arccoupler 704 are chosen for efficient power transfer, most of the powerin the wave 706 is transferred to the wire 702, with little powerremaining in wave 710. It will be appreciated that the guided wave 708can still be multi-modal in nature (discussed herein), including havingmodes that are non-fundamental or asymmetric, while traveling along apath that is parallel or substantially parallel to the wire 702, with orwithout a fundamental transmission mode. In an embodiment,non-fundamental or asymmetric modes can be utilized to minimizetransmission losses and/or obtain increased propagation distances.

It is noted that the term parallel is generally a geometric constructwhich often is not exactly achievable in real systems. Accordingly, theterm parallel as utilized in the subject disclosure represents anapproximation rather than an exact configuration when used to describeembodiments disclosed in the subject disclosure. In an embodiment,substantially parallel can include approximations that are within 30degrees of true parallel in all dimensions.

In an embodiment, the wave 706 can exhibit one or more wave propagationmodes. The arc coupler modes can be dependent on the shape and/or designof the coupler 704. The one or more arc coupler modes of wave 706 cangenerate, influence, or impact one or more wave propagation modes of theguided wave 708 propagating along wire 702. It should be particularlynoted however that the guided wave modes present in the guided wave 706may be the same or different from the guided wave modes of the guidedwave 708. In this fashion, one or more guided wave modes of the guidedwave 706 may not be transferred to the guided wave 708, and further oneor more guided wave modes of guided wave 708 may not have been presentin guided wave 706. It should also be noted that the cut-off frequencyof the arc coupler 704 for a particular guided wave mode may bedifferent than the cutoff frequency of the wire 702 or othertransmission media for that same mode. For example, while the wire 702or other transmission media may be operated slightly above its cutofffrequency for a particular guided wave mode, the arc coupler 704 may beoperated well above its cut-off frequency for that same mode for lowloss, slightly below its cut-off frequency for that same mode to, forexample, induce greater coupling and power transfer, or some otherpoints in relation to the arc coupler's cutoff frequency for that mode.

In an embodiment, the wave propagation modes on the wire 702 can besimilar to the arc coupler modes since both waves 706 and 708 propagateabout the outside of the arc coupler 704 and wire 702 respectively. Insome embodiments, as the wave 706 couples to the wire 702, the modes canchange form, or new modes can be created or generated, due to thecoupling between the arc coupler 704 and the wire 702. For example,differences in size, material, and/or impedances of the arc coupler 704and wire 702 may create additional modes not present in the arc couplermodes and/or suppress some of the arc coupler modes. The wavepropagation modes can comprise the fundamental transverseelectromagnetic mode (Quasi-TEM₀₀), where only small electric and/ormagnetic fields extend in the direction of propagation, and the electricand magnetic fields extend radially outwards while the guided wavepropagates along the wire. This guided wave mode can be donut shaped,where few of the electromagnetic fields exist within the arc coupler 704or wire 702.

Waves 706 and 708 can comprise a fundamental TEM mode where the fieldsextend radially outwards, and also comprise other, non-fundamental(e.g., asymmetric, higher-level, etc.) modes. While particular wavepropagation modes are discussed above, other wave propagation modes arelikewise possible such as transverse electric (TE) and transversemagnetic (TM) modes, based on the frequencies employed, the design ofthe arc coupler 704, the dimensions and composition of the wire 702, aswell as its surface characteristics, its insulation if present, theelectromagnetic properties of the surrounding environment, etc. Itshould be noted that, depending on the frequency, the electrical andphysical characteristics of the wire 702 and the particular wavepropagation modes that are generated, guided wave 708 can travel alongthe conductive surface of an oxidized uninsulated wire, an unoxidizeduninsulated wire, an insulated wire and/or along the insulating surfaceof an insulated wire.

In an embodiment, a diameter of the arc coupler 704 is smaller than thediameter of the wire 702. For the millimeter-band wavelength being used,the arc coupler 704 supports a single waveguide mode that makes up wave706. This single waveguide mode can change as it couples to the wire 702as guided wave 708. If the arc coupler 704 were larger, more than onewaveguide mode can be supported, but these additional waveguide modesmay not couple to the wire 702 as efficiently, and higher couplinglosses can result. However, in some alternative embodiments, thediameter of the arc coupler 704 can be equal to or larger than thediameter of the wire 702, for example, where higher coupling losses aredesirable or when used in conjunction with other techniques to otherwisereduce coupling losses (e.g., impedance matching with tapering, etc.).

In an embodiment, the wavelength of the waves 706 and 708 are comparablein size, or smaller than a circumference of the arc coupler 704 and thewire 702. In an example, if the wire 702 has a diameter of 0.5 cm, and acorresponding circumference of around 1.5 cm, the wavelength of thetransmission is around 1.5 cm or less, corresponding to a frequency of70 GHz or greater. In another embodiment, a suitable frequency of thetransmission and the carrier-wave signal is in the range of 30-100 GHz,perhaps around 30-60 GHz, and around 38 GHz in one example. In anembodiment, when the circumference of the arc coupler 704 and wire 702is comparable in size to, or greater, than a wavelength of thetransmission, the waves 706 and 708 can exhibit multiple wavepropagation modes including fundamental and/or non-fundamental(symmetric and/or asymmetric) modes that propagate over sufficientdistances to support various communication systems described herein. Thewaves 706 and 708 can therefore comprise more than one type of electricand magnetic field configuration. In an embodiment, as the guided wave708 propagates down the wire 702, the electrical and magnetic fieldconfigurations will remain the same from end to end of the wire 702. Inother embodiments, as the guided wave 708 encounters interference(distortion or obstructions) or loses energy due to transmission lossesor scattering, the electric and magnetic field configurations can changeas the guided wave 708 propagates down wire 702.

In an embodiment, the arc coupler 704 can be composed of nylon, Teflon,polyethylene, a polyamide, or other plastics. In other embodiments,other dielectric materials are possible. The wire surface of wire 702can be metallic with either a bare metallic surface, or can be insulatedusing plastic, dielectric, insulator or other coatings, jackets orsheathings. In an embodiment, a dielectric or otherwisenon-conducting/insulated waveguide can be paired with either abare/metallic wire or insulated wire. In other embodiments, a metallicand/or conductive waveguide can be paired with a bare/metallic wire orinsulated wire. In an embodiment, an oxidation layer on the baremetallic surface of the wire 702 (e.g., resulting from exposure of thebare metallic surface to oxygen/air) can also provide insulating ordielectric properties similar to those provided by some insulators orsheathings.

It is noted that the graphical representations of waves 706, 708 and 710are presented merely to illustrate the principles that wave 706 inducesor otherwise launches a guided wave 708 on a wire 702 that operates, forexample, as a single wire transmission line. Wave 710 represents theportion of wave 706 that remains on the arc coupler 704 after thegeneration of guided wave 708. The actual electric and magnetic fieldsgenerated as a result of such wave propagation may vary depending on thefrequencies employed, the particular wave propagation mode or modes, thedesign of the arc coupler 704, the dimensions and composition of thewire 702, as well as its surface characteristics, its optionalinsulation, the electromagnetic properties of the surroundingenvironment, etc.

It is noted that arc coupler 704 can include a termination circuit ordamper 714 at the end of the arc coupler 704 that can absorb leftoverradiation or energy from wave 710. The termination circuit or damper 714can prevent and/or minimize the leftover radiation or energy from wave710 reflecting back toward transmitter circuit 712. In an embodiment,the termination circuit or damper 714 can include termination resistors,and/or other components that perform impedance matching to attenuatereflection. In some embodiments, if the coupling efficiencies are highenough, and/or wave 710 is sufficiently small, it may not be necessaryto use a termination circuit or damper 714. For the sake of simplicity,these transmitter 712 and termination circuits or dampers 714 may not bedepicted in the other figures, but in those embodiments, transmitter andtermination circuits or dampers may possibly be used.

Further, while a single arc coupler 704 is presented that generates asingle guided wave 708, multiple arc couplers 704 placed at differentpoints along the wire 702 and/or at different azimuthal orientationsabout the wire can be employed to generate and receive multiple guidedwaves 708 at the same or different frequencies, at the same or differentphases, at the same or different wave propagation modes.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a block diagram 800 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of an arc coupler is shown. In the embodimentshown, at least a portion of the coupler 704 can be placed near a wire702 or other transmission media, (such as transmission medium 125), inorder to facilitate coupling between the arc coupler 704 and the wire702 or other transmission media, to extract a portion of the guided wave806 as a guided wave 808 as described herein. The arc coupler 704 can beplaced such that a portion of the curved arc coupler 704 is tangentialto, and parallel or substantially parallel to the wire 702. The portionof the arc coupler 704 that is parallel to the wire can be an apex ofthe curve, or any point where a tangent of the curve is parallel to thewire 702. When the arc coupler 704 is positioned or placed thusly, theguided wave 806 travelling along the wire 702 couples, at least in part,to the arc coupler 704, and propagates as guided wave 808 along the arccoupler 704 to a receiving device (not expressly shown). A portion ofthe guided wave 806 that does not couple to the arc coupler propagatesas wave 810 along the wire 702 or other transmission media.

In an embodiment, the guided wave 806 can exhibit one or more wavepropagation modes. The arc coupler modes can be dependent on the shapeand/or design of the coupler 704. The one or more modes of guided wave806 can generate, influence, or impact one or more guide-wave modes ofthe guided wave 808 propagating along the arc coupler 704. It should beparticularly noted however that the guided wave modes present in theguided wave 806 may be the same or different from the guided wave modesof the guided wave 808. In this fashion, one or more guided wave modesof the guided wave 806 may not be transferred to the guided wave 808,and further one or more guided wave modes of guided wave 808 may nothave been present in guided wave 806.

Referring now to FIG. 9A, a block diagram 900 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a stub coupler is shown. In particular acoupling device that includes stub coupler 904 is presented for use in atransmission device, such as transmission device 101 or 102 presented inconjunction with FIG. 1. The stub coupler 904 can be made of adielectric material, or other low-loss insulators (e.g., Teflon,polyethylene and etc.), or made of a conducting (e.g., metallic,non-metallic, etc.) material, or any combination of the foregoingmaterials. As shown, the stub coupler 904 operates as a waveguide andhas a wave 906 propagating as a guided wave about a waveguide surface ofthe stub coupler 904. In the embodiment shown, at least a portion of thestub coupler 904 can be placed near a wire 702 or other transmissionmedia, (such as transmission medium 125), in order to facilitatecoupling between the stub coupler 904 and the wire 702 or othertransmission media, as described herein to launch the guided wave 908 onthe wire.

In an embodiment, the stub coupler 904 is curved, and an end of the stubcoupler 904 can be tied, fastened, or otherwise mechanically coupled toa wire 702. When the end of the stub coupler 904 is fastened to the wire702, the end of the stub coupler 904 is parallel or substantiallyparallel to the wire 702. Alternatively, another portion of thedielectric waveguide beyond an end can be fastened or coupled to wire702 such that the fastened or coupled portion is parallel orsubstantially parallel to the wire 702. The fastener 910 can be a nyloncable tie or other types of non-conducting/dielectric material that iseither separate from the stub coupler 904 or constructed as anintegrated component of the stub coupler 904. The stub coupler 904 canbe adjacent to the wire 702 without surrounding the wire 702.

Like the arc coupler 704 described in conjunction with FIG. 7, when thestub coupler 904 is placed with the end parallel to the wire 702, theguided wave 906 travelling along the stub coupler 904 couples to thewire 702, and propagates as guided wave 908 about the wire surface ofthe wire 702. In an example embodiment, the guided wave 908 can becharacterized as a surface wave or other electromagnetic waves.

It is noted that the graphical representations of waves 906 and 908 arepresented merely to illustrate the principles that wave 906 induces orotherwise launches a guided wave 908 on a wire 702 that operates, forexample, as a single wire transmission line. The actual electric andmagnetic fields generated as a result of such wave propagation may varydepending on one or more of the shape and/or design of the coupler, therelative position of the dielectric waveguide to the wire, thefrequencies employed, the design of the stub coupler 904, the dimensionsand composition of the wire 702, as well as its surface characteristics,its optional insulation, the electromagnetic properties of thesurrounding environment, etc.

In an embodiment, an end of stub coupler 904 can taper towards the wire702 in order to increase coupling efficiencies. Indeed, the tapering ofthe end of the stub coupler 904 can provide impedance matching to thewire 702 and reduce reflections, according to an example embodiment ofthe subject disclosure. For example, an end of the stub coupler 904 canbe gradually tapered in order to obtain a desired level of couplingbetween waves 906 and 908 as illustrated in FIG. 9A.

In an embodiment, the fastener 910 can be placed such that there is ashort length of the stub coupler 904 between the fastener 910 and an endof the stub coupler 904. Maximum coupling efficiencies are realized inthis embodiment when the length of the end of the stub coupler 904 thatis beyond the fastener 910 is at least several wavelengths long forwhatever frequency is being transmitted.

Turning now to FIG. 9B, a diagram 950 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of an electromagnetic distribution in accordancewith various aspects described herein is shown. In particular, anelectromagnetic distribution is presented in two dimensions for atransmission device that includes coupler 952, shown in an example stubcoupler constructed of a dielectric material. The coupler 952 couples anelectromagnetic wave for propagation as a guided wave along an outersurface of a wire 702 or other transmission media.

The coupler 952 guides the electromagnetic wave to a junction at x₀ viaa symmetrical guided wave mode. While some of the energy of theelectromagnetic wave that propagates along the coupler 952 is outside ofthe coupler 952, the majority of the energy of this electromagnetic waveis contained within the coupler 952. The junction at x₀ couples theelectromagnetic wave to the wire 702 or other transmission media at anazimuthal angle corresponding to the bottom of the transmission medium.This coupling induces an electromagnetic wave that is guided topropagate along the outer surface of the wire 702 or other transmissionmedia via at least one guided wave mode in direction 956. The majorityof the energy of the guided electromagnetic wave is outside or, but inclose proximity to the outer surface of the wire 702 or othertransmission media. In the example shown, the junction at x₀ forms anelectromagnetic wave that propagates via both a symmetrical mode and atleast one asymmetrical surface mode, such as the first order modepresented in conjunction with FIG. 3, that skims the surface of the wire702 or other transmission media.

It is noted that the graphical representations of guided waves arepresented merely to illustrate an example of guided wave coupling andpropagation. The actual electric and magnetic fields generated as aresult of such wave propagation may vary depending on the frequenciesemployed, the design and/or configuration of the coupler 952, thedimensions and composition of the wire 702 or other transmission media,as well as its surface characteristics, its insulation if present, theelectromagnetic properties of the surrounding environment, etc.

Turning now to FIG. 10A, illustrated is a block diagram 1000 of anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a coupler and transceiver system inaccordance with various aspects described herein. The system is anexample of transmission device 101 or 102. In particular, thecommunication interface 1008 is an example of communications interface205, the stub coupler 1002 is an example of coupler 220, and thetransmitter/receiver device 1006, diplexer 1016, power amplifier 1014,low noise amplifier 1018, frequency mixers 1010 and 1020 and localoscillator 1012 collectively form an example of transceiver 210.

In operation, the transmitter/receiver device 1006 launches and receiveswaves (e.g., guided wave 1004 onto stub coupler 1002). The guided waves1004 can be used to transport signals received from and sent to a hostdevice, base station, mobile devices, a building or other devices by wayof a communications interface 1008. The communications interface 1008can be an integral part of system 1000. Alternatively, thecommunications interface 1008 can be tethered to system 1000. Thecommunications interface 1008 can comprise a wireless interface forinterfacing to the host device, base station, mobile devices, a buildingor other devices utilizing any of various wireless signaling protocols(e.g., LTE, WiFi, WiMAX, IEEE 802.xx, etc.) including an infraredprotocol such as an infrared data association (IrDA) protocol or otherline of sight optical protocols. The communications interface 1008 canalso comprise a wired interface such as a fiber optic line, coaxialcable, twisted pair, category 5 (CAT-5) cable or other suitable wired oroptical media for communicating with the host device, base station,mobile devices, a building or other devices via a protocol such as anEthernet protocol, universal serial bus (USB) protocol, a data overcable service interface specification (DOCSIS) protocol, a digitalsubscriber line (DSL) protocol, a Firewire (IEEE 1394) protocol, orother wired or optical protocols. For embodiments where system 1000functions as a repeater, the communications interface 1008 may not benecessary.

The output signals (e.g., Tx) of the communications interface 1008 canbe combined with a carrier wave (e.g., millimeter-wave carrier wave)generated by a local oscillator 1012 at frequency mixer 1010. Frequencymixer 1010 can use heterodyning techniques or other frequency shiftingtechniques to frequency shift the output signals from communicationsinterface 1008. For example, signals sent to and from the communicationsinterface 1008 can be modulated signals such as orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexed (OFDM) signals formatted in accordance with aLong-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless protocol or other wireless 3G, 4G, 5Gor higher voice and data protocols, a Zigbee, WIMAX, UltraWideband orIEEE 802.11 wireless protocol; a wired protocol such as an Ethernetprotocol, universal serial bus (USB) protocol, a data over cable serviceinterface specification (DOCSIS) protocol, a digital subscriber line(DSL) protocol, a Firewire (IEEE 1394) protocol or other wired orwireless protocols. In an example embodiment, this frequency conversioncan be done in the analog domain, and as a result, the frequencyshifting can be done without regard to the type of communicationsprotocol used by a base station, mobile devices, or in-building devices.As new communications technologies are developed, the communicationsinterface 1008 can be upgraded (e.g., updated with software, firmware,and/or hardware) or replaced and the frequency shifting and transmissionapparatus can remain, simplifying upgrades. The carrier wave can then besent to a power amplifier (“PA”) 1014 and can be transmitted via thetransmitter receiver device 1006 via the diplexer 1016.

Signals received from the transmitter/receiver device 1006 that aredirected towards the communications interface 1008 can be separated fromother signals via diplexer 1016. The received signal can then be sent tolow noise amplifier (“LNA”) 1018 for amplification. A frequency mixer1020, with help from local oscillator 1012 can downshift the receivedsignal (which is in the millimeter-wave band or around 38 GHz in someembodiments) to the native frequency. The communications interface 1008can then receive the transmission at an input port (Rx).

In an embodiment, transmitter/receiver device 1006 can include acylindrical or non-cylindrical metal (which, for example, can be hollowin an embodiment, but not necessarily drawn to scale) or otherconducting or non-conducting waveguides and an end of the stub coupler1002 can be placed in or in proximity to the waveguide or thetransmitter/receiver device 1006 such that when the transmitter/receiverdevice 1006 generates a transmission, the guided wave couples to stubcoupler 1002 and propagates as a guided wave 1004 about the waveguidesurface of the stub coupler 1002. In some embodiments, the guided wave1004 can propagate in part on the outer surface of the stub coupler 1002and in part inside the stub coupler 1002. In other embodiments, theguided wave 1004 can propagate substantially or completely on the outersurface of the stub coupler 1002. In yet other embodiments, the guidedwave 1004 can propagate substantially or completely inside the stubcoupler 1002. In this latter embodiment, the guided wave 1004 canradiate at an end of the stub coupler 1002 (such as the tapered endshown in FIG. 4) for coupling to a transmission medium such as a wire702 of FIG. 7. Similarly, if guided wave 1004 is incoming (coupled tothe stub coupler 1002 from a wire 702), guided wave 1004 then enters thetransmitter/receiver device 1006 and couples to the cylindricalwaveguide or conducting waveguide. While transmitter/receiver device1006 is shown to include a separate waveguide—an antenna, cavityresonator, klystron, magnetron, travelling wave tube, or other radiatingelements can be employed to induce a guided wave on the coupler 1002,with or without the separate waveguide.

In an embodiment, stub coupler 1002 can be wholly constructed of adielectric material (or another suitable insulating material), withoutany metallic or otherwise conducting materials therein. Stub coupler1002 can be composed of nylon, Teflon, polyethylene, a polyamide, otherplastics, or other materials that are non-conducting and suitable forfacilitating transmission of electromagnetic waves at least in part onan outer surface of such materials. In another embodiment, stub coupler1002 can include a core that is conducting/metallic, and have anexterior dielectric surface. Similarly, a transmission medium thatcouples to the stub coupler 1002 for propagating electromagnetic wavesinduced by the stub coupler 1002 or for supplying electromagnetic wavesto the stub coupler 1002 can, in addition to being a bare or insulatedwire, be wholly constructed of a dielectric material (or anothersuitable insulating material), without any metallic or otherwiseconducting materials therein.

It is noted that although FIG. 10A shows that the opening of transmitterreceiver device 1006 is much wider than the stub coupler 1002, this isnot to scale, and that in other embodiments the width of the stubcoupler 1002 is comparable or slightly smaller than the opening of thehollow waveguide. It is also not shown, but in an embodiment, an end ofthe coupler 1002 that is inserted into the transmitter/receiver device1006 tapers down in order to reduce reflection and increase couplingefficiencies.

Before coupling to the stub coupler 1002, the one or more waveguidemodes of the guided wave generated by the transmitter/receiver device1006 can couple to the stub coupler 1002 to induce one or more wavepropagation modes of the guided wave 1004. The wave propagation modes ofthe guided wave 1004 can be different than the hollow metal waveguidemodes due to the different characteristics of the hollow metal waveguideand the dielectric waveguide. For instance, wave propagation modes ofthe guided wave 1004 can comprise the fundamental transverseelectromagnetic mode (Quasi-TEM₀₀), where only small electrical and/ormagnetic fields extend in the direction of propagation, and the electricand magnetic fields extend radially outwards from the stub coupler 1002while the guided waves propagate along the stub coupler 1002. Thefundamental transverse electromagnetic mode wave propagation mode may ormay not exist inside a waveguide that is hollow. Therefore, the hollowmetal waveguide modes that are used by transmitter/receiver device 1006are waveguide modes that can couple effectively and efficiently to wavepropagation modes of stub coupler 1002.

It will be appreciated that other constructs or combinations of thetransmitter/receiver device 1006 and stub coupler 1002 are possible. Forexample, a stub coupler 1002′ can be placed tangentially or in parallel(with or without a gap) with respect to an outer surface of the hollowmetal waveguide of the transmitter/receiver device 1006′ (correspondingcircuitry not shown) as depicted by reference 1000′ of FIG. 10B. Inanother embodiment, not shown by reference 1000′, the stub coupler 1002′can be placed inside the hollow metal waveguide of thetransmitter/receiver device 1006′ without an axis of the stub coupler1002′ being coaxially aligned with an axis of the hollow metal waveguideof the transmitter/receiver device 1006′. In either of theseembodiments, the guided wave generated by the transmitter/receiverdevice 1006′ can couple to a surface of the stub coupler 1002′ to induceone or more wave propagation modes of the guided wave 1004′ on the stubcoupler 1002′ including a fundamental mode (e.g., a symmetric mode)and/or a non-fundamental mode (e.g., asymmetric mode).

In one embodiment, the guided wave 1004′ can propagate in part on theouter surface of the stub coupler 1002′ and in part inside the stubcoupler 1002′. In another embodiment, the guided wave 1004′ canpropagate substantially or completely on the outer surface of the stubcoupler 1002′. In yet other embodiments, the guided wave 1004′ canpropagate substantially or completely inside the stub coupler 1002′. Inthis latter embodiment, the guided wave 1004′ can radiate at an end ofthe stub coupler 1002′ (such as the tapered end shown in FIG. 9) forcoupling to a transmission medium such as a wire 702 of FIG. 9.

It will be further appreciated that other constructs of thetransmitter/receiver device 1006 are possible. For example, a hollowmetal waveguide of a transmitter/receiver device 1006″ (correspondingcircuitry not shown), depicted in FIG. 10B as reference 1000″, can beplaced tangentially or in parallel (with or without a gap) with respectto an outer surface of a transmission medium such as the wire 702 ofFIG. 4 without the use of the stub coupler 1002. In this embodiment, theguided wave generated by the transmitter/receiver device 1006″ cancouple to a surface of the wire 702 to induce one or more wavepropagation modes of a guided wave 908 on the wire 702 including afundamental mode (e.g., a symmetric mode) and/or a non-fundamental mode(e.g., asymmetric mode). In another embodiment, the wire 702 can bepositioned inside a hollow metal waveguide of a transmitter/receiverdevice 1006′ (corresponding circuitry not shown) so that an axis of thewire 702 is coaxially (or not coaxially) aligned with an axis of thehollow metal waveguide without the use of the stub coupler 1002—see FIG.10B reference 1000′″. In this embodiment, the guided wave generated bythe transmitter/receiver device 1006′″ can couple to a surface of thewire 702 to induce one or more wave propagation modes of a guided wave908 on the wire including a fundamental mode (e.g., a symmetric mode)and/or a non-fundamental mode (e.g., asymmetric mode).

In the embodiments of 1000″ and 1000′, for a wire 702 having aninsulated outer surface, the guided wave 908 can propagate in part onthe outer surface of the insulator and in part inside the insulator. Insome embodiments, the guided wave 908 can propagate substantially orcompletely on the outer surface of the insulator, or substantially orcompletely inside the insulator. In the embodiments of 1000″ and 1000′″,for a wire 702 that is a bare conductor, the guided wave 908 canpropagate in part on the outer surface of the conductor and in partinside the conductor. In another embodiment, the guided wave 908 canpropagate substantially or completely on the outer surface of theconductor.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a block diagram 1100 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a dual stub coupler is shown. In particular,a dual coupler design is presented for use in a transmission device,such as transmission device 101 or 102 presented in conjunction withFIG. 1. In an embodiment, two or more couplers (such as the stubcouplers 1104 and 1106) can be positioned around a wire 1102 in order toreceive guided wave 1108. In an embodiment, one coupler is enough toreceive the guided wave 1108. In that case, guided wave 1108 couples tocoupler 1104 and propagates as guided wave 1110. If the field structureof the guided wave 1108 oscillates or undulates around the wire 1102 dueto the particular guided wave mode(s) or various outside factors, thencoupler 1106 can be placed such that guided wave 1108 couples to coupler1106. In some embodiments, four or more couplers can be placed around aportion of the wire 1102, e.g., at 90 degrees or another spacing withrespect to each other, in order to receive guided waves that mayoscillate or rotate around the wire 1102, that have been induced atdifferent azimuthal orientations or that have non-fundamental or higherorder modes that, for example, have lobes and/or nulls or otherasymmetries that are orientation dependent. However, it will beappreciated that there may be less than or more than four couplersplaced around a portion of the wire 1102 without departing from exampleembodiments.

It should be noted that while couplers 1106 and 1104 are illustrated asstub couplers, any other of the coupler designs described hereinincluding arc couplers, antenna or horn couplers, magnetic couplers,etc., could likewise be used. It will also be appreciated that whilesome example embodiments have presented a plurality of couplers aroundat least a portion of a wire 1102, this plurality of couplers can alsobe considered as part of a single coupler system having multiple couplersubcomponents. For example, two or more couplers can be manufactured asa single system that can be installed around a wire in a singleinstallation such that the couplers are either pre-positioned oradjustable relative to each other (either manually or automatically witha controllable mechanism such as a motor or other actuators) inaccordance with the single system.

Receivers coupled to couplers 1106 and 1104 can use diversity combiningto combine signals received from both couplers 1106 and 1104 in order tomaximize the signal quality. In other embodiments, if one or the otherof the couplers 1104 and 1106 receive a transmission that is above apredetermined threshold, receivers can use selection diversity whendeciding which signal to use. Further, while reception by a plurality ofcouplers 1106 and 1104 is illustrated, transmission by couplers 1106 and1104 in the same configuration can likewise take place. In particular, awide range of multi-input multi-output (MIMO) transmission and receptiontechniques can be employed for transmissions where a transmissiondevice, such as transmission device 101 or 102 presented in conjunctionwith FIG. 1 includes multiple transceivers and multiple couplers.

It is noted that the graphical representations of waves 1108 and 1110are presented merely to illustrate the principles that guided wave 1108induces or otherwise launches a wave 1110 on a coupler 1104. The actualelectric and magnetic fields generated as a result of such wavepropagation may vary depending on the frequencies employed, the designof the coupler 1104, the dimensions and composition of the wire 1102, aswell as its surface characteristics, its insulation if any, theelectromagnetic properties of the surrounding environment, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a block diagram 1200 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a repeater system is shown. In particular, arepeater device 1210 is presented for use in a transmission device, suchas transmission device 101 or 102 presented in conjunction with FIG. 1.In this system, two couplers 1204 and 1214 can be placed near a wire1202 or other transmission media such that guided waves 1205 propagatingalong the wire 1202 are extracted by coupler 1204 as wave 1206 (e.g., asa guided wave), and then are boosted or repeated by repeater device 1210and launched as a wave 1216 (e.g., as a guided wave) onto coupler 1214.The wave 1216 can then be launched on the wire 1202 and continue topropagate along the wire 1202 as a guided wave 1217. In an embodiment,the repeater device 1210 can receive at least a portion of the powerutilized for boosting or repeating through magnetic coupling with thewire 1202, for example, when the wire 1202 is a power line or otherwisecontains a power-carrying conductor. It should be noted that whilecouplers 1204 and 1214 are illustrated as stub couplers, any other ofthe coupler designs described herein including arc couplers, antenna orhorn couplers, magnetic couplers, or the like, could likewise be used.

In some embodiments, repeater device 1210 can repeat the transmissionassociated with wave 1206, and in other embodiments, repeater device1210 can include a communications interface 205 that extracts data orother signals from the wave 1206 for supplying such data or signals toanother network and/or one or more other devices as communicationsignals 110 or 112 and/or receiving communication signals 110 or 112from another network and/or one or more other devices and launch guidedwave 1216 having embedded therein the received communication signals 110or 112. In a repeater configuration, receiver waveguide 1208 can receivethe wave 1206 from the coupler 1204 and transmitter waveguide 1212 canlaunch guided wave 1216 onto coupler 1214 as guided wave 1217. Betweenreceiver waveguide 1208 and transmitter waveguide 1212, the signalembedded in guided wave 1206 and/or the guided wave 1216 itself can beamplified to correct for signal loss and other inefficiencies associatedwith guided wave communications or the signal can be received andprocessed to extract the data contained therein and regenerated fortransmission. In an embodiment, the receiver waveguide 1208 can beconfigured to extract data from the signal, process the data to correctfor data errors utilizing for example error correcting codes, andregenerate an updated signal with the corrected data. The transmitterwaveguide 1212 can then transmit guided wave 1216 with the updatedsignal embedded therein. In an embodiment, a signal embedded in guidedwave 1206 can be extracted from the transmission and processed forcommunication with another network and/or one or more other devices viacommunications interface 205 as communication signals 110 or 112.Similarly, communication signals 110 or 112 received by thecommunications interface 205 can be inserted into a transmission ofguided wave 1216 that is generated and launched onto coupler 1214 bytransmitter waveguide 1212.

It is noted that although FIG. 12 shows guided wave transmissions 1206and 1216 entering from the left and exiting to the right respectively,this is merely a simplification and is not intended to be limiting. Inother embodiments, receiver waveguide 1208 and transmitter waveguide1212 can also function as transmitters and receivers respectively,allowing the repeater device 1210 to be bi-directional.

In an embodiment, repeater device 1210 can be placed at locations wherethere are discontinuities or obstacles on the wire 1202 or othertransmission media. In the case where the wire 1202 is a power line,these obstacles can include transformers, connections, utility poles,and other such power line devices. The repeater device 1210 can help theguided (e.g., surface) waves jump over these obstacles on the line andboost the transmission power at the same time. In other embodiments, acoupler can be used to jump over the obstacle without the use of arepeater device. In that embodiment, both ends of the coupler can betied or fastened to the wire, thus providing a path for the guided waveto travel without being blocked by the obstacle.

Turning now to FIG. 13, illustrated is a block diagram 1300 of anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a bidirectional repeater inaccordance with various aspects described herein. In particular, abidirectional repeater device 1306 is presented for use in atransmission device, such as transmission device 101 or 102 presented inconjunction with FIG. 1. It should be noted that while the couplers areillustrated as stub couplers, any other of the coupler designs describedherein including arc couplers, antenna or horn couplers, magneticcouplers, or the like, could likewise be used. The bidirectionalrepeater 1306 can employ diversity paths in the case of when two or morewires or other transmission media are present. Since guided wavetransmissions have different transmission efficiencies and couplingefficiencies for transmission medium of different types such asinsulated wires, un-insulated wires or other types of transmission mediaand further, if exposed to the elements, can be affected by weather, andother atmospheric conditions, it can be advantageous to selectivelytransmit on different transmission media at certain times. In variousembodiments, the various transmission media can be designated as aprimary, secondary, tertiary, etc. whether or not such designationindicates a preference of one transmission medium over another.

In the embodiment shown, the transmission media include an insulated oruninsulated wire 1302 and an insulated or uninsulated wire 1304(referred to herein as wires 1302 and 1304, respectively). The repeaterdevice 1306 uses a receiver coupler 1308 to receive a guided wavetraveling along wire 1302 and repeats the transmission using transmitterwaveguide 1310 as a guided wave along wire 1304. In other embodiments,repeater device 1306 can switch from the wire 1304 to the wire 1302, orcan repeat the transmissions along the same paths. Repeater device 1306can include sensors, or be in communication with sensors (or a networkmanagement system 1601 depicted in FIG. 16A) that indicate conditionsthat can affect the transmission. Based on the feedback received fromthe sensors, the repeater device 1306 can make the determination aboutwhether to keep the transmission along the same wire, or transfer thetransmission to the other wire.

Turning now to FIG. 14, illustrated is a block diagram 1400 illustratingan example, non-limiting embodiment of a bidirectional repeater system.In particular, a bidirectional repeater system is presented for use in atransmission device, such as transmission device 101 or 102 presented inconjunction with FIG. 1. The bidirectional repeater system includeswaveguide coupling devices 1402 and 1404 that receive and transmittransmissions from other coupling devices located in a distributedantenna system or backhaul system.

In various embodiments, waveguide coupling device 1402 can receive atransmission from another waveguide coupling device, wherein thetransmission has a plurality of subcarriers. Diplexer 1406 can separatethe transmission from other transmissions, and direct the transmissionto low-noise amplifier (“LNA”) 1408. A frequency mixer 1428, with helpfrom a local oscillator 1412, can downshift the transmission (which isin the millimeter-wave band or around 38 GHz in some embodiments) to alower frequency, such as a cellular band (˜1.9 GHz) for a distributedantenna system, a native frequency, or other frequencies for a backhaulsystem. An extractor (or demultiplexer) 1432 can extract the signal on asubcarrier and direct the signal to an output component 1422 foroptional amplification, buffering or isolation by power amplifier 1424for coupling to communications interface 205. The communicationsinterface 205 can further process the signals received from the poweramplifier 1424 or otherwise transmit such signals over a wireless orwired interface to other devices such as a base station, mobile devices,a building, etc. For the signals that are not being extracted at thislocation, extractor 1432 can redirect them to another frequency mixer1436, where the signals are used to modulate a carrier wave generated bylocal oscillator 1414. The carrier wave, with its subcarriers, isdirected to a power amplifier (“PA”) 1416 and is retransmitted bywaveguide coupling device 1404 to another system, via diplexer 1420.

An LNA 1426 can be used to amplify, buffer or isolate signals that arereceived by the communication interface 205 and then send the signal toa multiplexer 1434 which merges the signal with signals that have beenreceived from waveguide coupling device 1404. The signals received fromcoupling device 1404 have been split by diplexer 1420, and then passedthrough LNA 1418, and downshifted in frequency by frequency mixer 1438.When the signals are combined by multiplexer 1434, they are upshifted infrequency by frequency mixer 1430, and then boosted by PA 1410, andtransmitted to another system by waveguide coupling device 1402. In anembodiment bidirectional repeater system can be merely a repeaterwithout the output device 1422. In this embodiment, the multiplexer 1434would not be utilized and signals from LNA 1418 would be directed tomixer 1430 as previously described. It will be appreciated that in someembodiments, the bidirectional repeater system could also be implementedusing two distinct and separate unidirectional repeaters. In analternative embodiment, a bidirectional repeater system could also be abooster or otherwise perform retransmissions without downshifting andupshifting. Indeed in an example embodiment, the retransmissions can bebased upon receiving a signal or guided wave and performing some signalor guided wave processing or reshaping, filtering, and/or amplification,prior to retransmission of the signal or guided wave.

Referring now to FIG. 15, a block diagram 1500 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a guided wave communications system is shown.This diagram depicts an exemplary environment in which a guided wavecommunication system, such as the guided wave communication systempresented in conjunction with FIG. 1, can be used.

To provide network connectivity to additional base station devices, abackhaul network that links the communication cells (e.g., macrocellsand macrocells) to network devices of a core network correspondinglyexpands. Similarly, to provide network connectivity to a distributedantenna system, an extended communication system that links base stationdevices and their distributed antennas is desirable. A guided wavecommunication system 1500 such as shown in FIG. 15 can be provided toenable alternative, increased or additional network connectivity and awaveguide coupling system can be provided to transmit and/or receiveguided wave (e.g., surface wave) communications on a transmission mediumsuch as a wire that operates as a single-wire transmission line (e.g., autility line), and that can be used as a waveguide and/or that otherwiseoperates to guide the transmission of an electromagnetic wave.

The guided wave communication system 1500 can comprise a first instanceof a distribution system 1550 that includes one or more base stationdevices (e.g., base station device 1504) that are communicably coupledto a central office 1501 and/or a macrocell site 1502. Base stationdevice 1504 can be connected by a wired (e.g., fiber and/or cable), orby a wireless (e.g., microwave wireless) connection to the macrocellsite 1502 and the central office 1501. A second instance of thedistribution system 1560 can be used to provide wireless voice and dataservices to mobile device 1522 and to residential and/or commercialestablishments 1542 (herein referred to as establishments 1542). System1500 can have additional instances of the distribution systems 1550 and1560 for providing voice and/or data services to mobile devices1522-1524 and establishments 1542 as shown in FIG. 15.

Macrocells such as macrocell site 1502 can have dedicated connections toa mobile network and base station device 1504 or can share and/orotherwise use another connection. Central office 1501 can be used todistribute media content and/or provide internet service provider (ISP)services to mobile devices 1522-1524 and establishments 1542. Thecentral office 1501 can receive media content from a constellation ofsatellites 1530 (one of which is shown in FIG. 15) or other sources ofcontent, and distribute such content to mobile devices 1522-1524 andestablishments 1542 via the first and second instances of thedistribution system 1550 and 1560. The central office 1501 can also becommunicatively coupled to the Internet 1503 for providing internet dataservices to mobile devices 1522-1524 and establishments 1542.

Base station device 1504 can be mounted on, or attached to, utility pole1516. In other embodiments, base station device 1504 can be neartransformers and/or other locations situated nearby a power line. Basestation device 1504 can facilitate connectivity to a mobile network formobile devices 1522 and 1524. Antennas 1512 and 1514, mounted on or nearutility poles 1518 and 1520, respectively, can receive signals from basestation device 1504 and transmit those signals to mobile devices 1522and 1524 over a much wider area than if the antennas 1512 and 1514 werelocated at or near base station device 1504.

It is noted that FIG. 15 displays three utility poles, in each instanceof the distribution systems 1550 and 1560, with one base station device,for purposes of simplicity. In other embodiments, utility pole 1516 canhave more base station devices, and more utility poles with distributedantennas and/or tethered connections to establishments 1542.

A transmission device 1506, such as transmission device 101 or 102presented in conjunction with FIG. 1, can transmit a signal from basestation device 1504 to antennas 1512 and 1514 via utility or powerline(s) that connect the utility poles 1516, 1518, and 1520. To transmitthe signal, radio source and/or transmission device 1506 upconverts thesignal (e.g., via frequency mixing) from base station device 1504 orotherwise converts the signal from the base station device 1504 to amicrowave band signal and the transmission device 1506 launches amicrowave band wave that propagates as a guided wave traveling along theutility line or other wires as described in previous embodiments. Atutility pole 1518, another transmission device 1508 receives the guidedwave (and optionally can amplify it as needed or desired or operate as arepeater to receive it and regenerate it) and sends it forward as aguided wave on the utility line or other wires. The transmission device1508 can also extract a signal from the microwave band guided wave andshift it down in frequency or otherwise convert it to its originalcellular band frequency (e.g., 1.9 GHz or other defined cellularfrequencies) or another cellular (or non-cellular) band frequency. Anantenna 1512 can wireless transmit the downshifted signal to mobiledevice 1522. The process can be repeated by transmission device 1510,antenna 1514 and mobile device 1524, as necessary or desirable.

Transmissions from mobile devices 1522 and 1524 can also be received byantennas 1512 and 1514, respectively. The transmission devices 1508 and1510 can upshift or otherwise convert the cellular band signals tomicrowave band and transmit the signals as guided wave (e.g., surfacewave or other electromagnetic waves) transmissions over the powerline(s) to base station device 1504.

Media content received by the central office 1501 can be supplied to thesecond instance of the distribution system 1560 via the base stationdevice 1504 for distribution to mobile devices 1522 and establishments1542. The transmission device 1510 can be tethered to the establishments1542 by one or more wired connections or a wireless interface. The oneor more wired connections may include without limitation, a power line,a coaxial cable, a fiber cable, a twisted pair cable, a guided wavetransmission medium or other suitable wired media for distribution ofmedia content and/or for providing internet services. In an exampleembodiment, the wired connections from the transmission device 1510 canbe communicatively coupled to one or more very high bit rate digitalsubscriber line (VDSL) modems located at one or more correspondingservice area interfaces (SAIs—not shown) or pedestals, each SAI orpedestal providing services to a portion of the establishments 1542. TheVDSL modems can be used to selectively distribute media content and/orprovide internet services to gateways (not shown) located in theestablishments 1542. The SAIs or pedestals can also be communicativelycoupled to the establishments 1542 over a wired medium such as a powerline, a coaxial cable, a fiber cable, a twisted pair cable, a guidedwave transmission medium or other suitable wired media. In other exampleembodiments, the transmission device 1510 can be communicatively coupleddirectly to establishments 1542 without intermediate interfaces such asthe SAIs or pedestals.

In another example embodiment, system 1500 can employ diversity paths,where two or more utility lines or other wires are strung between theutility poles 1516, 1518, and 1520 (e.g., for example, two or more wiresbetween poles 1516 and 1520) and redundant transmissions from basestation/macrocell site 1502 are transmitted as guided waves down thesurface of the utility lines or other wires. The utility lines or otherwires can be either insulated or uninsulated, and depending on theenvironmental conditions that cause transmission losses, the couplingdevices can selectively receive signals from the insulated oruninsulated utility lines or other wires. The selection can be based onmeasurements of the signal-to-noise ratio of the wires, or based ondetermined weather/environmental conditions (e.g., moisture detectors,weather forecasts, etc.). The use of diversity paths with system 1500can enable alternate routing capabilities, load balancing, increasedload handling, concurrent bi-directional or synchronous communications,spread spectrum communications, etc.

It is noted that the use of the transmission devices 1506, 1508, and1510 in FIG. 15 are by way of example only, and that in otherembodiments, other uses are possible. For instance, transmission devicescan be used in a backhaul communication system, providing networkconnectivity to base station devices. Transmission devices 1506, 1508,and 1510 can be used in many circumstances where it is desirable totransmit guided wave communications over a wire, whether insulated ornot insulated. Transmission devices 1506, 1508, and 1510 areimprovements over other coupling devices due to no contact or limitedphysical and/or electrical contact with the wires that may carry highvoltages. The transmission device can be located away from the wire(e.g., spaced apart from the wire) and/or located on the wire so long asit is not electrically in contact with the wire, as the dielectric actsas an insulator, allowing for cheap, easy, and/or less complexinstallation. However, as previously noted conducting or non-dielectriccouplers can be employed, for example in configurations where the wirescorrespond to a telephone network, cable television network, broadbanddata service, fiber optic communications system or other networksemploying low voltages or having insulated transmission lines.

It is further noted, that while base station device 1504 and macrocellsite 1502 are illustrated in an embodiment, other network configurationsare likewise possible. For example, devices such as access points orother wireless gateways can be employed in a similar fashion to extendthe reach of other networks such as a wireless local area network, awireless personal area network or other wireless networks that operatein accordance with a communication protocol such as a 802.11 protocol,WIMAX protocol, UltraWideband protocol, Bluetooth protocol, Zigbeeprotocol or other wireless protocols.

Referring now to FIGS. 16A & 16B, block diagrams illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a system for managing a power gridcommunication system are shown. Considering FIG. 16A, a waveguide system1602 is presented for use in a guided wave communications system, suchas the system presented in conjunction with FIG. 15. The waveguidesystem 1602 can comprise sensors 1604, a power management system 1605, atransmission device 101 or 102 that includes at least one communicationinterface 205, transceiver 210 and coupler 220.

The waveguide system 1602 can be coupled to a power line 1610 forfacilitating guided wave communications in accordance with embodimentsdescribed in the subject disclosure. In an example embodiment, thetransmission device 101 or 102 includes coupler 220 for inducingelectromagnetic waves on a surface of the power line 1610 thatlongitudinally propagate along the surface of the power line 1610 asdescribed in the subject disclosure. The transmission device 101 or 102can also serve as a repeater for retransmitting electromagnetic waves onthe same power line 1610 or for routing electromagnetic waves betweenpower lines 1610 as shown in FIGS. 12-13.

The transmission device 101 or 102 includes transceiver 210 configuredto, for example, up-convert a signal operating at an original frequencyrange to electromagnetic waves operating at, exhibiting, or associatedwith a carrier frequency that propagate along a coupler to inducecorresponding guided electromagnetic waves that propagate along asurface of the power line 1610. A carrier frequency can be representedby a center frequency having upper and lower cutoff frequencies thatdefine the bandwidth of the electromagnetic waves. The power line 1610can be a wire (e.g., single stranded or multi-stranded) having aconducting surface or insulated surface. The transceiver 210 can alsoreceive signals from the coupler 220 and down-convert theelectromagnetic waves operating at a carrier frequency to signals attheir original frequency.

Signals received by the communications interface 205 of transmissiondevice 101 or 102 for up-conversion can include without limitationsignals supplied by a central office 1611 over a wired or wirelessinterface of the communications interface 205, a base station 1614 overa wired or wireless interface of the communications interface 205,wireless signals transmitted by mobile devices 1620 to the base station1614 for delivery over the wired or wireless interface of thecommunications interface 205, signals supplied by in-buildingcommunication devices 1618 over the wired or wireless interface of thecommunications interface 205, and/or wireless signals supplied to thecommunications interface 205 by mobile devices 1612 roaming in awireless communication range of the communications interface 205. Inembodiments where the waveguide system 1602 functions as a repeater,such as shown in FIGS. 12-13, the communications interface 205 may ormay not be included in the waveguide system 1602.

The electromagnetic waves propagating along the surface of the powerline 1610 can be modulated and formatted to include packets or frames ofdata that include a data payload and further include networkinginformation (such as header information for identifying one or moredestination waveguide systems 1602). The networking information may beprovided by the waveguide system 1602 or an originating device such asthe central office 1611, the base station 1614, mobile devices 1620, orin-building devices 1618, or a combination thereof. Additionally, themodulated electromagnetic waves can include error correction data formitigating signal disturbances. The networking information and errorcorrection data can be used by a destination waveguide system 1602 fordetecting transmissions directed to it, and for down-converting andprocessing with error correction data transmissions that include voiceand/or data signals directed to recipient communication devicescommunicatively coupled to the destination waveguide system 1602.

Referring now to the sensors 1604 of the waveguide system 1602, thesensors 1604 can comprise one or more of: a temperature sensor 1604 a, adisturbance detection sensor 1604 b, a loss of energy sensor 1604 c, anoise sensor 1604 d, a vibration sensor 1604 e, an environmental (e.g.,weather) sensor 1604 f, and/or an image sensor 1604 g. The temperaturesensor 1604 a can be used to measure ambient temperature, a temperatureof the transmission device 101 or 102, a temperature of the power line1610, temperature differentials (e.g., compared to a setpoint orbaseline, between transmission device 101 or 102 and 1610, etc.), or anycombination thereof. In one embodiment, temperature metrics can becollected and reported periodically to a network management system 1601by way of the base station 1614.

The disturbance detection sensor 1604 b can perform measurements on thepower line 1610 to detect disturbances such as signal reflections, whichmay indicate a presence of a downstream disturbance that may impede thepropagation of electromagnetic waves on the power line 1610. A signalreflection can represent a distortion resulting from, for example, anelectromagnetic wave transmitted on the power line 1610 by thetransmission device 101 or 102 that reflects in whole or in part back tothe transmission device 101 or 102 from a disturbance in the power line1610 located downstream from the transmission device 101 or 102.

Signal reflections can be caused by obstructions on the power line 1610.For example, a tree limb may cause electromagnetic wave reflections whenthe tree limb is lying on the power line 1610, or is in close proximityto the power line 1610 which may cause a corona discharge. Otherobstructions that can cause electromagnetic wave reflections can includewithout limitation an object that has been entangled on the power line1610 (e.g., clothing, a shoe wrapped around a power line 1610 with ashoe string, etc.), a corroded build-up on the power line 1610 or an icebuild-up. Power grid components may also impede or obstruct with thepropagation of electromagnetic waves on the surface of power lines 1610.Illustrations of power grid components that may cause signal reflectionsinclude without limitation a transformer and a joint for connectingspliced power lines. A sharp angle on the power line 1610 may also causeelectromagnetic wave reflections.

The disturbance detection sensor 1604 b can comprise a circuit tocompare magnitudes of electromagnetic wave reflections to magnitudes oforiginal electromagnetic waves transmitted by the transmission device101 or 102 to determine how much a downstream disturbance in the powerline 1610 attenuates transmissions. The disturbance detection sensor1604 b can further comprise a spectral analyzer circuit for performingspectral analysis on the reflected waves. The spectral data generated bythe spectral analyzer circuit can be compared with spectral profiles viapattern recognition, an expert system, curve fitting, matched filteringor other artificial intelligence, classification or comparisontechniques to identify a type of disturbance based on, for example, thespectral profile that most closely matches the spectral data. Thespectral profiles can be stored in a memory of the disturbance detectionsensor 1604 b or may be remotely accessible by the disturbance detectionsensor 1604 b. The profiles can comprise spectral data that modelsdifferent disturbances that may be encountered on power lines 1610 toenable the disturbance detection sensor 1604 b to identify disturbanceslocally. An identification of the disturbance if known can be reportedto the network management system 1601 by way of the base station 1614.The disturbance detection sensor 1604 b can also utilize thetransmission device 101 or 102 to transmit electromagnetic waves as testsignals to determine a roundtrip time for an electromagnetic wavereflection. The round trip time measured by the disturbance detectionsensor 1604 b can be used to calculate a distance traveled by theelectromagnetic wave up to a point where the reflection takes place,which enables the disturbance detection sensor 1604 b to calculate adistance from the transmission device 101 or 102 to the downstreamdisturbance on the power line 1610.

The distance calculated can be reported to the network management system1601 by way of the base station 1614. In one embodiment, the location ofthe waveguide system 1602 on the power line 1610 may be known to thenetwork management system 1601, which the network management system 1601can use to determine a location of the disturbance on the power line1610 based on a known topology of the power grid. In another embodiment,the waveguide system 1602 can provide its location to the networkmanagement system 1601 to assist in the determination of the location ofthe disturbance on the power line 1610. The location of the waveguidesystem 1602 can be obtained by the waveguide system 1602 from apre-programmed location of the waveguide system 1602 stored in a memoryof the waveguide system 1602, or the waveguide system 1602 can determineits location using a GPS receiver (not shown) included in the waveguidesystem 1602.

The power management system 1605 provides energy to the aforementionedcomponents of the waveguide system 1602. The power management system1605 can receive energy from solar cells, or from a transformer (notshown) coupled to the power line 1610, or by inductive coupling to thepower line 1610 or another nearby power line. The power managementsystem 1605 can also include a backup battery and/or a super capacitoror other capacitor circuits for providing the waveguide system 1602 withtemporary power. The loss of energy sensor 1604 c can be used to detectwhen the waveguide system 1602 has a loss of power condition and/or theoccurrence of some other malfunctions. For example, the loss of energysensor 1604 c can detect when there is a loss of power due to defectivesolar cells, an obstruction on the solar cells that causes them tomalfunction, loss of power on the power line 1610, and/or when thebackup power system malfunctions due to expiration of a backup battery,or a detectable defect in a super capacitor. When a malfunction and/orloss of power occurs, the loss of energy sensor 1604 c can notify thenetwork management system 1601 by way of the base station 1614.

The noise sensor 1604 d can be used to measure noise on the power line1610 that may adversely affect transmission of electromagnetic waves onthe power line 1610. The noise sensor 1604 d can sense unexpectedelectromagnetic interference, noise bursts, or other sources ofdisturbances that may interrupt reception of modulated electromagneticwaves on a surface of a power line 1610. A noise burst can be caused by,for example, a corona discharge, or other sources of noise. The noisesensor 1604 d can compare the measured noise to a noise profile obtainedby the waveguide system 1602 from an internal database of noise profilesor from a remotely located database that stores noise profiles viapattern recognition, an expert system, curve fitting, matched filteringor other artificial intelligence, classification or comparisontechniques. From the comparison, the noise sensor 1604 d may identify anoise source (e.g., corona discharge or otherwise) based on, forexample, the noise profile that provides the closest match to themeasured noise. The noise sensor 1604 d can also detect how noiseaffects transmissions by measuring transmission metrics such as biterror rate, packet loss rate, jitter, packet retransmission requests,etc. The noise sensor 1604 d can report to the network management system1601 by way of the base station 1614 the identity of noise sources,their time of occurrence, and transmission metrics, among other things.

The vibration sensor 1604 e can include accelerometers and/or gyroscopesto detect 2D or 3D vibrations on the power line 1610. The vibrations canbe compared to vibration profiles that can be stored locally in thewaveguide system 1602, or obtained by the waveguide system 1602 from aremote database via pattern recognition, an expert system, curvefitting, matched filtering or other artificial intelligence,classification or comparison techniques. Vibration profiles can be used,for example, to distinguish fallen trees from wind gusts based on, forexample, the vibration profile that provides the closest match to themeasured vibrations. The results of this analysis can be reported by thevibration sensor 1604 e to the network management system 1601 by way ofthe base station 1614.

The environmental sensor 1604 f can include a barometer for measuringatmospheric pressure, ambient temperature (which can be provided by thetemperature sensor 1604 a), wind speed, humidity, wind direction, andrainfall, among other things. The environmental sensor 1604 f cancollect raw information and process this information by comparing it toenvironmental profiles that can be obtained from a memory of thewaveguide system 1602 or a remote database to predict weather conditionsbefore they arise via pattern recognition, an expert system,knowledge-based system or other artificial intelligence, classificationor other weather modeling and prediction techniques. The environmentalsensor 1604 f can report raw data as well as its analysis to the networkmanagement system 1601.

The image sensor 1604 g can be a digital camera (e.g., a charged coupleddevice or CCD imager, infrared camera, etc.) for capturing images in avicinity of the waveguide system 1602. The image sensor 1604 g caninclude an electromechanical mechanism to control movement (e.g., actualposition or focal points/zooms) of the camera for inspecting the powerline 1610 from multiple perspectives (e.g., top surface, bottom surface,left surface, right surface and so on). Alternatively, the image sensor1604 g can be designed such that no electromechanical mechanism isneeded in order to obtain the multiple perspectives. The collection andretrieval of imaging data generated by the image sensor 1604 g can becontrolled by the network management system 1601, or can be autonomouslycollected and reported by the image sensor 1604 g to the networkmanagement system 1601.

Other sensors that may be suitable for collecting telemetry informationassociated with the waveguide system 1602 and/or the power lines 1610for purposes of detecting, predicting and/or mitigating disturbancesthat can impede the propagation of electromagnetic wave transmissions onpower lines 1610 (or any other forms of a transmission medium ofelectromagnetic waves) may be utilized by the waveguide system 1602.

Referring now to FIG. 16B, block diagram 1650 illustrates an example,non-limiting embodiment of a system for managing a power grid 1653 and acommunication system 1655 embedded therein or associated therewith inaccordance with various aspects described herein. The communicationsystem 1655 comprises a plurality of waveguide systems 1602 coupled topower lines 1610 of the power grid 1653. At least a portion of thewaveguide systems 1602 used in the communication system 1655 can be indirect communication with a base station 1614 and/or the networkmanagement system 1601. Waveguide systems 1602 not directly connected toa base station 1614 or the network management system 1601 can engage incommunication sessions with either a base station 1614 or the networkmanagement system 1601 by way of other downstream waveguide systems 1602connected to a base station 1614 or the network management system 1601.

The network management system 1601 can be communicatively coupled toequipment of a utility company 1652 and equipment of a communicationsservice provider 1654 for providing each entity, status informationassociated with the power grid 1653 and the communication system 1655,respectively. The network management system 1601, the equipment of theutility company 1652, and the communications service provider 1654 canaccess communication devices utilized by utility company personnel 1656and/or communication devices utilized by communications service providerpersonnel 1658 for purposes of providing status information and/or fordirecting such personnel in the management of the power grid 1653 and/orcommunication system 1655.

FIG. 17A illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1700 for detecting and mitigating disturbancesoccurring in a communication network of the systems of FIGS. 16A & 16B.Method 1700 can begin with step 1702 where a waveguide system 1602transmits and receives messages embedded in, or forming part of,modulated electromagnetic waves or another type of electromagnetic wavestraveling along a surface of a power line 1610. The messages can bevoice messages, streaming video, and/or other data/information exchangedbetween communications devices communicatively coupled to thecommunication system 1655. At step 1704 the sensors 1604 of thewaveguide system 1602 can collect sensing data. In an embodiment, thesensing data can be collected in step 1704 prior to, during, or afterthe transmission and/or receipt of messages in step 1702. At step 1706the waveguide system 1602 (or the sensors 1604 themselves) can determinefrom the sensing data an actual or predicted occurrence of a disturbancein the communication system 1655 that can affect communicationsoriginating from (e.g., transmitted by) or received by the waveguidesystem 1602. The waveguide system 1602 (or the sensors 1604) can processtemperature data, signal reflection data, loss of energy data, noisedata, vibration data, environmental data, or any combination thereof tomake this determination. The waveguide system 1602 (or the sensors 1604)may also detect, identify, estimate, or predict the source of thedisturbance and/or its location in the communication system 1655. If adisturbance is neither detected/identified nor predicted/estimated atstep 1708, the waveguide system 1602 can proceed to step 1702 where itcontinues to transmit and receive messages embedded in, or forming partof, modulated electromagnetic waves traveling along a surface of thepower line 1610.

If at step 1708 a disturbance is detected/identified orpredicted/estimated to occur, the waveguide system 1602 proceeds to step1710 to determine if the disturbance adversely affects (oralternatively, is likely to adversely affect or the extent to which itmay adversely affect) transmission or reception of messages in thecommunication system 1655. In one embodiment, a duration threshold and afrequency of occurrence threshold can be used at step 1710 to determinewhen a disturbance adversely affects communications in the communicationsystem 1655. For illustration purposes only, assume a duration thresholdis set to 500 ms, while a frequency of occurrence threshold is set to 5disturbances occurring in an observation period of 10 sec. Thus, adisturbance having a duration greater than 500 ms will trigger theduration threshold. Additionally, any disturbance occurring more than 5times in a 10 sec time interval will trigger the frequency of occurrencethreshold.

In one embodiment, a disturbance may be considered to adversely affectsignal integrity in the communication systems 1655 when the durationthreshold alone is exceeded. In another embodiment, a disturbance may beconsidered as adversely affecting signal integrity in the communicationsystems 1655 when both the duration threshold and the frequency ofoccurrence threshold are exceeded. The latter embodiment is thus moreconservative than the former embodiment for classifying disturbancesthat adversely affect signal integrity in the communication system 1655.It will be appreciated that many other algorithms and associatedparameters and thresholds can be utilized for step 1710 in accordancewith example embodiments.

Referring back to method 1700, if at step 1710 the disturbance detectedat step 1708 does not meet the condition for adversely affectedcommunications (e.g., neither exceeds the duration threshold nor thefrequency of occurrence threshold), the waveguide system 1602 mayproceed to step 1702 and continue processing messages. For instance, ifthe disturbance detected in step 1708 has a duration of 1 msec with asingle occurrence in a 10 sec time period, then neither threshold willbe exceeded. Consequently, such a disturbance may be considered ashaving a nominal effect on signal integrity in the communication system1655 and thus would not be flagged as a disturbance requiringmitigation. Although not flagged, the occurrence of the disturbance, itstime of occurrence, its frequency of occurrence, spectral data, and/orother useful information, may be reported to the network managementsystem 1601 as telemetry data for monitoring purposes.

Referring back to step 1710, if on the other hand the disturbancesatisfies the condition for adversely affected communications (e.g.,exceeds either or both thresholds), the waveguide system 1602 canproceed to step 1712 and report the incident to the network managementsystem 1601. The report can include raw sensing data collected by thesensors 1604, a description of the disturbance if known by the waveguidesystem 1602, a time of occurrence of the disturbance, a frequency ofoccurrence of the disturbance, a location associated with thedisturbance, parameters readings such as bit error rate, packet lossrate, retransmission requests, jitter, latency and so on. If thedisturbance is based on a prediction by one or more sensors of thewaveguide system 1602, the report can include a type of disturbanceexpected, and if predictable, an expected time occurrence of thedisturbance, and an expected frequency of occurrence of the predicteddisturbance when the prediction is based on historical sensing datacollected by the sensors 1604 of the waveguide system 1602.

At step 1714, the network management system 1601 can determine amitigation, circumvention, or correction technique, which may includedirecting the waveguide system 1602 to reroute traffic to circumvent thedisturbance if the location of the disturbance can be determined. In oneembodiment, the waveguide coupling device 1402 detecting the disturbancemay direct a repeater such as the one shown in FIGS. 13-14 to connectthe waveguide system 1602 from a primary power line affected by thedisturbance to a secondary power line to enable the waveguide system1602 to reroute traffic to a different transmission medium and avoid thedisturbance. In an embodiment where the waveguide system 1602 isconfigured as a repeater the waveguide system 1602 can itself performthe rerouting of traffic from the primary power line to the secondarypower line. It is further noted that for bidirectional communications(e.g., full or half-duplex communications), the repeater can beconfigured to reroute traffic from the secondary power line back to theprimary power line for processing by the waveguide system 1602.

In another embodiment, the waveguide system 1602 can redirect traffic byinstructing a first repeater situated upstream of the disturbance and asecond repeater situated downstream of the disturbance to redirecttraffic from a primary power line temporarily to a secondary power lineand back to the primary power line in a manner that avoids thedisturbance. It is further noted that for bidirectional communications(e.g., full or half-duplex communications), repeaters can be configuredto reroute traffic from the secondary power line back to the primarypower line.

To avoid interrupting existing communication sessions occurring on asecondary power line, the network management system 1601 may direct thewaveguide system 1602 to instruct repeater(s) to utilize unused timeslot(s) and/or frequency band(s) of the secondary power line forredirecting data and/or voice traffic away from the primary power lineto circumvent the disturbance.

At step 1716, while traffic is being rerouted to avoid the disturbance,the network management system 1601 can notify equipment of the utilitycompany 1652 and/or equipment of the communications service provider1654, which in turn may notify personnel of the utility company 1656and/or personnel of the communications service provider 1658 of thedetected disturbance and its location if known. Field personnel fromeither party can attend to resolving the disturbance at a determinedlocation of the disturbance. Once the disturbance is removed orotherwise mitigated by personnel of the utility company and/or personnelof the communications service provider, such personnel can notify theirrespective companies and/or the network management system 1601 utilizingfield equipment (e.g., a laptop computer, smartphone, etc.)communicatively coupled to network management system 1601, and/orequipment of the utility company and/or the communications serviceprovider. The notification can include a description of how thedisturbance was mitigated and any changes to the power lines 1610 thatmay change a topology of the communication system 1655.

Once the disturbance has been resolved (as determined in decision 1718),the network management system 1601 can direct the waveguide system 1602at step 1720 to restore the previous routing configuration used by thewaveguide system 1602 or route traffic according to a new routingconfiguration if the restoration strategy used to mitigate thedisturbance resulted in a new network topology of the communicationsystem 1655. In another embodiment, the waveguide system 1602 can beconfigured to monitor mitigation of the disturbance by transmitting testsignals on the power line 1610 to determine when the disturbance hasbeen removed. Once the waveguide system 1602 detects an absence of thedisturbance it can autonomously restore its routing configurationwithout assistance by the network management system 1601 if itdetermines the network topology of the communication system 1655 has notchanged, or it can utilize a new routing configuration that adapts to adetected new network topology.

FIG. 17B illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 1750 for detecting and mitigating disturbancesoccurring in a communication network of the system of FIGS. 16A and 16B.In one embodiment, method 1750 can begin with step 1752 where a networkmanagement system 1601 receives from equipment of the utility company1652 or equipment of the communications service provider 1654maintenance information associated with a maintenance schedule. Thenetwork management system 1601 can at step 1754 identify from themaintenance information, maintenance activities to be performed duringthe maintenance schedule. From these activities, the network managementsystem 1601 can detect a disturbance resulting from the maintenance(e.g., scheduled replacement of a power line 1610, scheduled replacementof a waveguide system 1602 on the power line 1610, scheduledreconfiguration of power lines 1610 in the power grid 1653, etc.).

In another embodiment, the network management system 1601 can receive atstep 1755 telemetry information from one or more waveguide systems 1602.The telemetry information can include among other things an identity ofeach waveguide system 1602 submitting the telemetry information,measurements taken by sensors 1604 of each waveguide system 1602,information relating to predicted, estimated, or actual disturbancesdetected by the sensors 1604 of each waveguide system 1602, locationinformation associated with each waveguide system 1602, an estimatedlocation of a detected disturbance, an identification of thedisturbance, and so on. The network management system 1601 can determinefrom the telemetry information a type of disturbance that may be adverseto operations of the waveguide, transmission of the electromagneticwaves along the wire surface, or both. The network management system1601 can also use telemetry information from multiple waveguide systems1602 to isolate and identify the disturbance. Additionally, the networkmanagement system 1601 can request telemetry information from waveguidesystems 1602 in a vicinity of an affected waveguide system 1602 totriangulate a location of the disturbance and/or validate anidentification of the disturbance by receiving similar telemetryinformation from other waveguide systems 1602.

In yet another embodiment, the network management system 1601 canreceive at step 1756 an unscheduled activity report from maintenancefield personnel. Unscheduled maintenance may occur as result of fieldcalls that are unplanned or as a result of unexpected field issuesdiscovered during field calls or scheduled maintenance activities. Theactivity report can identify changes to a topology configuration of thepower grid 1653 resulting from field personnel addressing discoveredissues in the communication system 1655 and/or power grid 1653, changesto one or more waveguide systems 1602 (such as replacement or repairthereof), mitigation of disturbances performed if any, and so on.

At step 1758, the network management system 1601 can determine fromreports received according to steps 1752 through 1756 if a disturbancewill occur based on a maintenance schedule, or if a disturbance hasoccurred or is predicted to occur based on telemetry data, or if adisturbance has occurred due to an unplanned maintenance identified in afield activity report. From any of these reports, the network managementsystem 1601 can determine whether a detected or predicted disturbancerequires rerouting of traffic by the affected waveguide systems 1602 orother waveguide systems 1602 of the communication system 1655.

When a disturbance is detected or predicted at step 1758, the networkmanagement system 1601 can proceed to step 1760 where it can direct oneor more waveguide systems 1602 to reroute traffic to circumvent thedisturbance. When the disturbance is permanent due to a permanenttopology change of the power grid 1653, the network management system1601 can proceed to step 1770 and skip steps 1762, 1764, 1766, and 1772.At step 1770, the network management system 1601 can direct one or morewaveguide systems 1602 to use a new routing configuration that adapts tothe new topology. However, when the disturbance has been detected fromtelemetry information supplied by one or more waveguide systems 1602,the network management system 1601 can notify maintenance personnel ofthe utility company 1656 or the communications service provider 1658 ofa location of the disturbance, a type of disturbance if known, andrelated information that may be helpful to such personnel to mitigatethe disturbance. When a disturbance is expected due to maintenanceactivities, the network management system 1601 can direct one or morewaveguide systems 1602 to reconfigure traffic routes at a given schedule(consistent with the maintenance schedule) to avoid disturbances causedby the maintenance activities during the maintenance schedule.

Returning back to step 1760 and upon its completion, the process cancontinue with step 1762. At step 1762, the network management system1601 can monitor when the disturbance(s) have been mitigated by fieldpersonnel. Mitigation of a disturbance can be detected at step 1762 byanalyzing field reports submitted to the network management system 1601by field personnel over a communications network (e.g., cellularcommunication system) utilizing field equipment (e.g., a laptop computeror handheld computer/device). If field personnel have reported that adisturbance has been mitigated, the network management system 1601 canproceed to step 1764 to determine from the field report whether atopology change was required to mitigate the disturbance. A topologychange can include rerouting a power line 1610, reconfiguring awaveguide system 1602 to utilize a different power line 1610, otherwiseutilizing an alternative link to bypass the disturbance and so on. If atopology change has taken place, the network management system 1601 candirect at step 1770 one or more waveguide systems 1602 to use a newrouting configuration that adapts to the new topology.

If, however, a topology change has not been reported by field personnel,the network management system 1601 can proceed to step 1766 where it candirect one or more waveguide systems 1602 to send test signals to test arouting configuration that had been used prior to the detecteddisturbance(s). Test signals can be sent to affected waveguide systems1602 in a vicinity of the disturbance. The test signals can be used todetermine if signal disturbances (e.g., electromagnetic wavereflections) are detected by any of the waveguide systems 1602. If thetest signals confirm that a prior routing configuration is no longersubject to previously detected disturbance(s), then the networkmanagement system 1601 can at step 1772 direct the affected waveguidesystems 1602 to restore a previous routing configuration. If, however,test signals analyzed by one or more waveguide coupling devices 1402 andreported to the network management system 1601 indicate that thedisturbance(s) or new disturbance(s) are present, then the networkmanagement system 1601 will proceed to step 1768 and report thisinformation to field personnel to further address field issues. Thenetwork management system 1601 can in this situation continue to monitormitigation of the disturbance(s) at step 1762.

In the aforementioned embodiments, the waveguide systems 1602 can beconfigured to be self-adapting to changes in the power grid 1653 and/orto mitigation of disturbances. That is, one or more affected waveguidesystems 1602 can be configured to self-monitor mitigation ofdisturbances and reconfigure traffic routes without requiringinstructions to be sent to them by the network management system 1601.In this embodiment, the one or more waveguide systems 1602 that areself-configurable can inform the network management system 1601 of itsrouting choices so that the network management system 1601 can maintaina macro-level view of the communication topology of the communicationsystem 1655.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIGS. 17A and17B, respectively, it is to be understood and appreciated that theclaimed subject matter is not limited by the order of the blocks, assome blocks may occur in different orders and/or concurrently with otherblocks from what is depicted and described herein. Moreover, not allillustrated blocks may be required to implement the methods describedherein.

Turning now to FIG. 18A, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a communication system 1800 in accordancewith various aspects of the subject disclosure is shown. Thecommunication system 1800 can include a macro base station 1802 such asa base station or access point having antennas that covers one or moresectors (e.g., 6 or more sectors). The macro base station 1802 can becommunicatively coupled to a communication node 1804A that serves as amaster or distribution node for other communication nodes 1804B-Edistributed at differing geographic locations inside or beyond acoverage area of the macro base station 1802. The communication nodes1804 operate as a distributed antenna system configured to handlecommunications traffic associated with client devices such as mobiledevices (e.g., cell phones) and/or fixed/stationary devices (e.g., acommunication device in a residence, or commercial establishment) thatare wirelessly coupled to any of the communication nodes 1804. Inparticular, the wireless resources of the macro base station 1802 can bemade available to mobile devices by allowing and/or redirecting certainmobile and/or stationary devices to utilize the wireless resources of acommunication node 1804 in a communication range of the mobile orstationary devices.

The communication nodes 1804A-E can be communicatively coupled to eachother over an interface 1810. In one embodiment, the interface 1810 cancomprise a wired or tethered interface (e.g., fiber optic cable). Inother embodiments, the interface 1810 can comprise a wireless RFinterface forming a radio distributed antenna system. In variousembodiments, the communication nodes 1804A-E can be configured toprovide communication services to mobile and stationary devicesaccording to instructions provided by the macro base station 1802. Inother examples of operation however, the communication nodes 1804A-Eoperate merely as analog repeaters to spread the coverage of the macrobase station 1802 throughout the entire range of the individualcommunication nodes 1804A-E.

The micro base stations (depicted as communication nodes 1804) candiffer from the macro base station in several ways. For example, thecommunication range of the micro base stations can be smaller than thecommunication range of the macro base station. Consequently, the powerconsumed by the micro base stations can be less than the power consumedby the macro base station. The macro base station optionally directs themicro base stations as to which mobile and/or stationary devices theyare to communicate with, and which carrier frequency, spectralsegment(s) and/or timeslot schedule of such spectral segment(s) are tobe used by the micro base stations when communicating with certainmobile or stationary devices. In these cases, control of the micro basestations by the macro base station can be performed in a master-slaveconfiguration or other suitable control configurations. Whetheroperating independently or under the control of the macro base station1802, the resources of the micro base stations can be simpler and lesscostly than the resources utilized by the macro base station 1802.

Turning now to FIG. 18B, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of the communication nodes 1804B-E of thecommunication system 1800 of FIG. 18A is shown. In this illustration,the communication nodes 1804B-E are placed on a utility fixture such asa light post. In other embodiments, some of the communication nodes1804B-E can be placed on a building or a utility post or pole that isused for distributing power and/or communication lines. Thecommunication nodes 1804B-E in these illustrations can be configured tocommunicate with each other over the interface 1810, which in thisillustration is shown as a wireless interface. The communication nodes1804B-E can also be configured to communicate with mobile or stationarydevices 1806A-C over a wireless interface 1811 that conforms to one ormore communication protocols (e.g., fourth generation (4G) wirelesssignals such as LTE signals or other 4G signals, fifth generation (5G)wireless signals, WiMAX, 802.11 signals, ultra-wideband signals, etc.).The communication nodes 1804 can be configured to exchange signals overthe interface 1810 at an operating frequency that may be higher (e.g.,28 GHz, 38 GHz, 60 GHz, 80 GHz or higher) than the operating frequencyused for communicating with the mobile or stationary devices (e.g., 1.9GHz) over interface 1811. The high carrier frequency and a widerbandwidth can be used for communicating between the communication nodes1804 enabling the communication nodes 1804 to provide communicationservices to multiple mobile or stationary devices via one or morediffering frequency bands, (e.g., a 900 MHz band, 1.9 GHz band, a 2.4GHz band, and/or a 5.8 GHz band, etc.) and/or one or more differingprotocols, as will be illustrated by spectral downlink and uplinkdiagrams of FIG. 19A described below. In other embodiments, particularlywhere the interface 1810 is implemented via a guided wave communicationssystem on a wire, a wideband spectrum in a lower frequency range (e.g.,in the range of 2-6 GHz, 4-10 GHz, etc.) can be employed.

Turning now to FIGS. 18C-18D, block diagrams illustrating example,non-limiting embodiments of a communication node 1804 of thecommunication system 1800 of FIG. 18A are shown. The communication node1804 can be attached to a support structure 1818 of a utility fixturesuch as a utility post or pole as shown in FIG. 18C. The communicationnode 1804 can be affixed to the support structure 1818 with an arm 1820constructed of plastic or other suitable materials that attach to an endof the communication node 1804. The communication node 1804 can furtherinclude a plastic housing assembly 1816 that covers components of thecommunication node 1804. The communication node 1804 can be powered by apower line 1821 (e.g., 110/220 VAC). The power line 1821 can originatefrom a light pole or can be coupled to a power line of a utility pole.

In an embodiment where the communication nodes 1804 communicatewirelessly with other communication nodes 1804 as shown in FIG. 18B, atop side 1812 of the communication node 1804 (illustrated also in FIG.18D) can comprise a plurality of antennas 1822 (e.g., 16 dielectricantennas devoid of metal surfaces) coupled to one or more transceiverssuch as, for example, in whole or in part, the transceiver 1400illustrated in FIG. 14. Each of the plurality of antennas 1822 of thetop side 1812 can operate as a sector of the communication node 1804,each sector configured for communicating with at least one communicationnode 1804 in a communication range of the sector. Alternatively, or incombination, the interface 1810 between communication nodes 1804 can bea tethered interface (e.g., a fiber optic cable, or a power line usedfor transport of guided electromagnetic waves as previously described).In other embodiments, the interface 1810 can differ betweencommunication nodes 1804. That is, some communications nodes 1804 maycommunicate over a wireless interface, while others communicate over atethered interface. In yet other embodiments, some communications nodes1804 may utilize a combined wireless and tethered interface.

A bottom side 1814 of the communication node 1804 can also comprise aplurality of antennas 1824 for wirelessly communicating with one or moremobile or stationary devices 1806 at a carrier frequency that issuitable for the mobile or stationary devices 1806. As noted earlier,the carrier frequency used by the communication node 1804 forcommunicating with the mobile or station devices over the wirelessinterface 1811 shown in FIG. 18B can be different from the carrierfrequency used for communicating between the communications nodes 1804over interface 1810. The plurality of antennas 1824 of the bottomportion 1814 of the communication node 1804 can also utilize atransceiver such as, for example, in whole or in part, the transceiver1400 illustrated in FIG. 14.

Turning now to FIG. 19A, a block diagram illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of downlink and uplink communication techniquesfor enabling a base station to communicate with the communication nodes1804 of FIG. 18A is shown. In the illustrations of FIG. 19A, downlinksignals (i.e., signals directed from the macro base station 1802 to thecommunication nodes 1804) can be spectrally divided into controlchannels 1902, downlink spectral segments 1906 each including modulatedsignals which can be frequency converted to their original/nativefrequency band for enabling the communication nodes 1804 to communicatewith one or more mobile or stationary devices 1906, and pilot signals1904 which can be supplied with some or all of the spectral segments1906 for mitigating distortion created between the communication nodes1904. The pilot signals 1904 can be processed by the top side 1816(tethered or wireless) transceivers of downstream communication nodes1804 to remove distortion from a receive signal (e.g., phasedistortion). Each downlink spectral segment 1906 can be allotted abandwidth 1905 sufficiently wide (e.g., 50 MHz) to include acorresponding pilot signal 1904 and one or more downlink modulatedsignals located in frequency channels (or frequency slots) in thespectral segment 1906. The modulated signals can represent cellularchannels, WLAN channels or other modulated communication signals (e.g.,10-20 MHz), which can be used by the communication nodes 1804 forcommunicating with one or more mobile or stationary devices 1806.

Uplink modulated signals generated by mobile or stationary communicationdevices in their native/original frequency bands can be frequencyconverted and thereby located in frequency channels (or frequency slots)in the uplink spectral segment 1910. The uplink modulated signals canrepresent cellular channels, WLAN channels or other modulatedcommunication signals. Each uplink spectral segment 1910 can be allotteda similar or same bandwidth 1905 to include a pilot signal 1908 whichcan be provided with some or each spectral segment 1910 to enableupstream communication nodes 1804 and/or the macro base station 1802 toremove distortion (e.g., phase error).

In the embodiment shown, the downlink and uplink spectral segments 1906and 1910 each comprise a plurality of frequency channels (or frequencyslots), which can be occupied with modulated signals that have beenfrequency converted from any number of native/original frequency bands(e.g., a 900 MHz band, 1.9 GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, and/or a 5.8 GHzband, etc.). The modulated signals can be up-converted to adjacentfrequency channels in downlink and uplink spectral segments 1906 and1910. In this fashion, while some adjacent frequency channels in adownlink spectral segment 1906 can include modulated signals originallyin a same native/original frequency band, other adjacent frequencychannels in the downlink spectral segment 1906 can also includemodulated signals originally in different native/original frequencybands, but frequency converted to be located in adjacent frequencychannels of the downlink spectral segment 1906. For example, a firstmodulated signal in a 1.9 GHz band and a second modulated signal in thesame frequency band (i.e., 1.9 GHz) can be frequency converted andthereby positioned in adjacent frequency channels of a downlink spectralsegment 1906. In another illustration, a first modulated signal in a 1.9GHz band and a second communication signal in a different frequency band(i.e., 2.4 GHz) can be frequency converted and thereby positioned inadjacent frequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1906.Accordingly, frequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1906 canbe occupied with any combination of modulated signals of the same ordiffering signaling protocols and of a same or differing native/originalfrequency bands.

Similarly, while some adjacent frequency channels in an uplink spectralsegment 1910 can include modulated signals originally in a samefrequency band, adjacent frequency channels in the uplink spectralsegment 1910 can also include modulated signals originally in differentnative/original frequency bands, but frequency converted to be locatedin adjacent frequency channels of an uplink segment 1910. For example, afirst communication signal in a 2.4 GHz band and a second communicationsignal in the same frequency band (i.e., 2.4 GHz) can be frequencyconverted and thereby positioned in adjacent frequency channels of anuplink spectral segment 1910. In another illustration, a firstcommunication signal in a 1.9 GHz band and a second communication signalin a different frequency band (i.e., 2.4 GHz) can be frequency convertedand thereby positioned in adjacent frequency channels of the uplinkspectral segment 1906. Accordingly, frequency channels of an uplinkspectral segment 1910 can be occupied with any combination of modulatedsignals of a same or differing signaling protocols and of a same ordiffering native/original frequency bands. It should be noted that adownlink spectral segment 1906 and an uplink spectral segment 1910 canthemselves be adjacent to one another and separated by only a guard bandor otherwise separated by a larger frequency spacing, depending on thespectral allocation in place.

Turning now to FIG. 19B, a block diagram 1920 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a communication node is shown. In particular,the communication node device such as communication node 1804A of aradio distributed antenna system includes a base station interface 1922,duplexer/diplexer assembly 1924, and two transceivers 1930 and 1932. Itshould be noted however, that when the communication node 1804A iscollocated with a base station, such as a macro base station 1802, theduplexer/diplexer assembly 1924 and the transceiver 1930 can be omittedand the transceiver 1932 can be directly coupled to the base stationinterface 1922.

In various embodiments, the base station interface 1922 receives a firstmodulated signal having one or more down link channels in a firstspectral segment for transmission to a client device such as one or moremobile communication devices. The first spectral segment represents anoriginal/native frequency band of the first modulated signal. The firstmodulated signal can include one or more downlink communication channelsconforming to a signaling protocol such as a LTE or other 4G wirelessprotocols, a 5G wireless communication protocol, an ultra-widebandprotocol, a WiMAX protocol, a 802.11 or other wireless local areanetwork protocols and/or other communication protocols. Theduplexer/diplexer assembly 1924 transfers the first modulated signal inthe first spectral segment to the transceiver 1930 for directcommunication with one or more mobile communication devices in range ofthe communication node 1804A as a free space wireless signal. In variousembodiments, the transceiver 1930 is implemented via analog circuitrythat merely provides: filtration to pass the spectrum of the downlinkchannels and the uplink channels of modulated signals in theiroriginal/native frequency bands while attenuating out-of-band signals,power amplification, transmit/receive switching, duplexing, diplexing,and impedance matching to drive one or more antennas that sends andreceives the wireless signals of interface 1810.

In other embodiments, the transceiver 1932 is configured to performfrequency conversion of the first modulated signal in the first spectralsegment to the first modulated signal at a first carrier frequency basedon, in various embodiments, an analog signal processing of the firstmodulated signal without modifying the signaling protocol of the firstmodulated signal. The first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency can occupy one or more frequency channels of a downlinkspectral segment 1906. The first carrier frequency can be in amillimeter-wave or microwave frequency band. As used herein analogsignal processing includes filtering, switching, duplexing, diplexing,amplification, frequency up and down conversion, and other analogprocessing that does not require digital signal processing, such asincluding without limitation either analog to digital conversion,digital to analog conversion, or digital frequency conversion. In otherembodiments, the transceiver 1932 can be configured to perform frequencyconversion of the first modulated signal in the first spectral segmentto the first carrier frequency by applying digital signal processing tothe first modulated signal without utilizing any form of analog signalprocessing and without modifying the signaling protocol of the firstmodulated signal. In yet other embodiments, the transceiver 1932 can beconfigured to perform frequency conversion of the first modulated signalin the first spectral segment to the first carrier frequency by applyinga combination of digital signal processing and analog processing to thefirst modulated signal and without modifying the signaling protocol ofthe first modulated signal.

The transceiver 1932 can be further configured to transmit one or morecontrol channels, one or more corresponding reference signals, such aspilot signals or other reference signals, and/or one or more clocksignals together with the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency to a network element of the distributed antenna system, suchas one or more downstream communication nodes 1904B-E, for wirelessdistribution of the first modulated signal to one or more other mobilecommunication devices once frequency converted by the network element tothe first spectral segment. In particular, the reference signal enablesthe network element to reduce a phase error (and/or other forms ofsignal distortion) during processing of the first modulated signal fromthe first carrier frequency to the first spectral segment. The controlchannel can include instructions to direct the communication node of thedistributed antenna system to convert the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment, to control frequency selections and reuse patterns,handoff and/or other control signaling. In embodiments where theinstructions transmitted and received via the control channel aredigital signals, the transceiver can 1932 can include a digital signalprocessing component that provides analog to digital conversion, digitalto analog conversion and that processes the digital data sent and/orreceived via the control channel. The clock signals supplied with thedownlink spectral segment 1906 can be utilized to synchronize timing ofdigital control channel processing by the downstream communication nodes1904B-E to recover the instructions from the control channel and/or toprovide other timing signals.

In various embodiments, the transceiver 1932 can receive a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from a network elementsuch as a communication node 1804B-E. The second modulated signal caninclude one or more uplink frequency channels occupied by one or moremodulated signals conforming to a signaling protocol such as a LTE orother 4G wireless protocols, a 5G wireless communication protocol, anultra-wideband protocol, a 802.11 or other wireless local area networkprotocols and/or other communication protocols. In particular, themobile or stationary communication device generates the second modulatedsignal in a second spectral segment such as an original/native frequencyband and the network element frequency converts the second modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment to the second modulated signal atthe second carrier frequency and transmits the second modulated signalat the second carrier frequency as received by the communication node1804A. The transceiver 1932 operates to convert the second modulatedsignal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulated signal inthe second spectral segment and sends the second modulated signal in thesecond spectral segment, via the duplexer/diplexer assembly 1924 andbase station interface 1922, to a base station, such as macro basestation 1802, for processing.

Consider the following examples where the communication node 1804A isimplemented in a distributed antenna system. The uplink frequencychannels in an uplink spectral segment 1910 and downlink frequencychannels in a downlink spectral segment 1906 can be occupied withsignals modulated and otherwise formatted in accordance with a DOCSIS2.0 or higher standard protocol, a WiMAX standard protocol, anultra-wideband protocol, a 802.11 standard protocol, a 4G or 5G voiceand data protocol such as an LTE protocol and/or other standardcommunication protocols. In addition to protocols that conform withcurrent standards, any of these protocols can be modified to operate inconjunction with the system of FIG. 18A. For example, a 802.11 protocolor other protocols can be modified to include additional guidelinesand/or a separate data channel to provide collision detection/multipleaccess over a wider area (e.g., allowing network elements orcommunication devices communicatively coupled to the network elementsthat are communicating via a particular frequency channel of a downlinkspectral segment 1906 or uplink spectral segment 1910 to hear oneanother). In various embodiments all of the uplink frequency channels ofthe uplink spectral segment 1910 and downlink frequency channel of thedownlink spectral segment 1906 can all be formatted in accordance withthe same communications protocol. In the alternative however, two ormore differing protocols can be employed on both the uplink spectralsegment 1910 and the downlink spectral segment 1906 to, for example, becompatible with a wider range of client devices and/or operate indifferent frequency bands.

When two or more differing protocols are employed, a first subset of thedownlink frequency channels of the downlink spectral segment 1906 can bemodulated in accordance with a first standard protocol and a secondsubset of the downlink frequency channels of the downlink spectralsegment 1906 can be modulated in accordance with a second standardprotocol that differs from the first standard protocol. Likewise a firstsubset of the uplink frequency channels of the uplink spectral segment1910 can be received by the system for demodulation in accordance withthe first standard protocol and a second subset of the uplink frequencychannels of the uplink spectral segment 1910 can be received inaccordance with a second standard protocol for demodulation inaccordance with the second standard protocol that differs from the firststandard protocol.

In accordance with these examples, the base station interface 1922 canbe configured to receive modulated signals such as one or more downlinkchannels in their original/native frequency bands from a base stationsuch as macro base station 1802 or other communications networkelements. Similarly, the base station interface 1922 can be configuredto supply to a base station modulated signals received from anothernetwork element that is frequency converted to modulated signals havingone or more uplink channels in their original/native frequency bands.The base station interface 1922 can be implemented via a wired orwireless interface that bidirectionally communicates communicationsignals such as uplink and downlink channels in their original/nativefrequency bands, communication control signals and other networksignaling with a macro base station or other network elements. Theduplexer/diplexer assembly 1924 is configured to transfer the downlinkchannels in their original/native frequency bands to the transceiver1932 which frequency converts the frequency of the downlink channelsfrom their original/native frequency bands into the frequency spectrumof interface 1810—in this case a wireless communication link used totransport the communication signals downstream to one or more othercommunication nodes 1804B-E of the distributed antenna system in rangeof the communication device 1804A.

In various embodiments, the transceiver 1932 includes an analog radiothat frequency converts the downlink channel signals in theiroriginal/native frequency bands via mixing or other heterodyne actionsto generate frequency converted downlink channels signals that occupydownlink frequency channels of the downlink spectral segment 1906. Inthis illustration, the downlink spectral segment 1906 is within thedownlink frequency band of the interface 1810. In an embodiment, thedownlink channel signals are up-converted from their original/nativefrequency bands to a 28 GHz, 38 GHz, 60 GHz, 70 GHz or 80 GHz band ofthe downlink spectral segment 1906 for line-of-sight wirelesscommunications to one or more other communication nodes 1804B-E. It isnoted, however, that other frequency bands can likewise be employed fora downlink spectral segment 1906 (e.g., 3 GHz to 5 GHz). For example,the transceiver 1932 can be configured for down-conversion of one ormore downlink channel signals in their original/native spectral bands ininstances where the frequency band of the interface 1810 falls below theoriginal/native spectral bands of the one or more downlink channelssignals.

The transceiver 1932 can be coupled to multiple individual antennas,such as antennas 1822 presented in conjunction with FIG. 18D, forcommunicating with the communication nodes 1804B, a phased antenna arrayor steerable beam or multi-beam antenna system for communicating withmultiple devices at different locations. The duplexer/diplexer assembly1924 can include a duplexer, triplexer, splitter, switch, router and/orother assemblies that operate as a “channel duplexer” to providebi-directional communications over multiple communication paths via oneor more original/native spectral segments of the uplink and downlinkchannels.

In addition to forwarding frequency converted modulated signalsdownstream to other communication nodes 1804B-E at a carrier frequencythat differs from their original/native spectral bands, thecommunication node 1804A can also communicate all or a selected portionof the modulated signals unmodified from their original/native spectralbands to client devices in a wireless communication range of thecommunication node 1804A via the wireless interface 1811. Theduplexer/diplexer assembly 1924 transfers the modulated signals in theiroriginal/native spectral bands to the transceiver 1930. The transceiver1930 can include a channel selection filter for selecting one or moredownlink channels and a power amplifier coupled to one or more antennas,such as antennas 1824 presented in conjunction with FIG. 18D, fortransmission of the downlink channels via wireless interface 1811 tomobile or fixed wireless devices.

In addition to downlink communications destined for client devices,communication node 1804A can operate in a reciprocal fashion to handleuplink communications originating from client devices as well. Inoperation, the transceiver 1932 receives uplink channels in the uplinkspectral segment 1910 from communication nodes 1804B-E via the uplinkspectrum of interface 1810. The uplink frequency channels in the uplinkspectral segment 1910 include modulated signals that were frequencyconverted by communication nodes 1804B-E from their original/nativespectral bands to the uplink frequency channels of the uplink spectralsegment 1910. In situations where the interface 1810 operates in ahigher frequency band than the native/original spectral segments of themodulated signals supplied by the client devices, the transceiver 1932down-converts the up-converted modulated signals to their originalfrequency bands. In situations, however, where the interface 1810operates in a lower frequency band than the native/original spectralsegments of the modulated signals supplied by the client devices, thetransceiver 1932 upconverts the down-converted modulated signals totheir original frequency bands. Further, the transceiver 1930 operatesto receive all or selected ones of the modulated signals in theiroriginal/native frequency bands from client devices via the wirelessinterface 1811. The duplexer/diplexer assembly 1924 transfers themodulated signals in their original/native frequency bands received viathe transceiver 1930 to the base station interface 1922 to be sent tothe macro base station 1802 or other network elements of acommunications network. Similarly, modulated signals occupying uplinkfrequency channels in an uplink spectral segment 1910 that are frequencyconverted to their original/native frequency bands by the transceiver1932 are supplied to the duplexer/diplexer assembly 1924 for transfer tothe base station interface 1922 to be sent to the macro base station1802 or other network elements of a communications network.

Turning now to FIG. 19C, a block diagram 1935 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a communication node is shown. In particular,the communication node device such as communication node 1804B, 1804C,1804D or 1804E of a radio distributed antenna system includestransceiver 1933, duplexer/diplexer assembly 1924, an amplifier 1938 andtwo transceivers 1936A and 1936B.

In various embodiments, the transceiver 1936A receives, from acommunication node 1804A or an upstream communication node 1804B-E, afirst modulated signal at a first carrier frequency corresponding to theplacement of the channels of the first modulated signal in the convertedspectrum of the distributed antenna system (e.g., frequency channels ofone or more downlink spectral segments 1906). The first modulated signalincludes first communications data provided by a base station anddirected to a mobile communication device. The transceiver 1936A isfurther configured to receive, from a communication node 1804A one ormore control channels and one or more corresponding reference signals,such as pilot signals or other reference signals, and/or one or moreclock signals associated with the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency. The first modulated signal can include one or moredownlink communication channels conforming to a signaling protocol suchas a LTE or other 4G wireless protocols, a 5G wireless communicationprotocol, an ultra-wideband protocol, a WiMAX protocol, a 802.11 orother wireless local area network protocols and/or other communicationprotocols.

As previously discussed, the reference signal enables the networkelement to reduce a phase error (and/or other forms of signaldistortion) during processing of the first modulated signal from thefirst carrier frequency to the first spectral segment (i.e.,original/native spectrum). The control channel includes instructions todirect the communication node of the distributed antenna system toconvert the first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment, to controlfrequency selections and reuse patterns, handoff and/or other controlsignaling. The clock signals can synchronize timing of digital controlchannel processing by the downstream communication nodes 1804B-E torecover the instructions from the control channel and/or to provideother timing signals.

The amplifier 1938 can be a bidirectional amplifier that amplifies thefirst modulated signal at the first carrier frequency together with thereference signals, control channels and/or clock signals for couplingvia the duplexer/diplexer assembly 1924 to transceiver 1936B, which inthis illustration, serves as a repeater for retransmission of theamplified the first modulated signal at the first carrier frequencytogether with the reference signals, control channels and/or clocksignals to one or more others of the communication nodes 1804B-E thatare downstream from the communication node 1804B-E that is shown andthat operate in a similar fashion.

The amplified first modulated signal at the first carrier frequencytogether with the reference signals, control channels and/or clocksignals are also coupled via the duplexer/diplexer assembly 1924 to thetransceiver 1933. The transceiver 1933 performs digital signalprocessing on the control channel to recover the instructions, such asin the form of digital data, from the control channel. The clock signalis used to synchronize timing of the digital control channel processing.The transceiver 1933 then performs frequency conversion of the firstmodulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulatedsignal in the first spectral segment in accordance with the instructionsand based on an analog (and/or digital) signal processing of the firstmodulated signal and utilizing the reference signal to reduce distortionduring the converting process. The transceiver 1933 wirelessly transmitsthe first modulated signal in the first spectral segment for directcommunication with one or more mobile communication devices in range ofthe communication node 1804B-E as free space wireless signals.

In various embodiments, the transceiver 1936B receives a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency in an uplink spectralsegment 1910 from other network elements such as one or more othercommunication nodes 1804B-E that are downstream from the communicationnode 1804B-E that is shown. The second modulated signal can include oneor more uplink communication channels conforming to a signaling protocolsuch as a LTE or other 4G wireless protocols, a 5G wirelesscommunication protocol, an ultra-wideband protocol, a 802.11 or otherwireless local area network protocols and/or other communicationprotocols. In particular, one or more mobile communication devicesgenerate the second modulated signal in a second spectral segment suchas an original/native frequency band and the downstream network elementperforms frequency conversion on the second modulated signal in thesecond spectral segment to the second modulated signal at the secondcarrier frequency and transmits the second modulated signal at thesecond carrier frequency in an uplink spectral segment 1910 as receivedby the communication node 1804B-E shown. The transceiver 1936B operatesto send the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency toamplifier 1938, via the duplexer/diplexer assembly 1924, foramplification and retransmission via the transceiver 1936A back to thecommunication node 1804A or upstream communication nodes 1804B-E forfurther retransmission back to a base station, such as macro basestation 1802, for processing.

The transceiver 1933 may also receive a second modulated signal in thesecond spectral segment from one or more mobile communication devices inrange of the communication node 1804B-E. The transceiver 1933 operatesto perform frequency conversion on the second modulated signal in thesecond spectral segment to the second modulated signal at the secondcarrier frequency, for example, under control of the instructionsreceived via the control channel, inserts the reference signals, controlchannels and/or clock signals for use by communication node 1804A inreconverting the second modulated signal back to the original/nativespectral segments and sends the second modulated signal at the secondcarrier frequency, via the duplexer/diplexer assembly 1924 and amplifier1938, to the transceiver 1936A for amplification and retransmission backto the communication node 1804A or upstream communication nodes 1804B-Efor further retransmission back to a base station, such as macro basestation 1802, for processing.

Turning now to FIG. 19D, a graphical diagram 1940 illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a frequency spectrum is shown. Inparticular, a spectrum 1942 is shown for a distributed antenna systemthat conveys modulated signals that occupy frequency channels of adownlink segment 1906 or uplink spectral segment 1910 after they havebeen converted in frequency (e.g., via up-conversion or down-conversion)from one or more original/native spectral segments into the spectrum1942.

In the example presented, the downstream (downlink) channel band 1944includes a plurality of downstream frequency channels represented byseparate downlink spectral segments 1906. Likewise the upstream (uplink)channel band 1946 includes a plurality of upstream frequency channelsrepresented by separate uplink spectral segments 1910. The spectralshapes of the separate spectral segments are meant to be placeholdersfor the frequency allocation of each modulated signal along withassociated reference signals, control channels and clock signals. Theactual spectral response of each frequency channel in a downlinkspectral segment 1906 or uplink spectral segment 1910 will vary based onthe protocol and modulation employed and further as a function of time.

The number of the uplink spectral segments 1910 can be less than orgreater than the number of the downlink spectral segments 1906 inaccordance with an asymmetrical communication system. In this case, theupstream channel band 1946 can be narrower or wider than the downstreamchannel band 1944. In the alternative, the number of the uplink spectralsegments 1910 can be equal to the number of the downlink spectralsegments 1906 in the case where a symmetrical communication system isimplemented. In this case, the width of the upstream channel band 1946can be equal to the width of the downstream channel band 1944 and bitstuffing or other data filling techniques can be employed to compensatefor variations in upstream traffic. While the downstream channel band1944 is shown at a lower frequency than the upstream channel band 1946,in other embodiments, the downstream channel band 1844 can be at ahigher frequency than the upstream channel band 1946. In addition, thenumber of spectral segments and their respective frequency positions inspectrum 1942 can change dynamically over time. For example, a generalcontrol channel can be provided in the spectrum 1942 (not shown) whichcan indicate to communication nodes 1804 the frequency position of eachdownlink spectral segment 1906 and each uplink spectral segment 1910.Depending on traffic conditions, or network requirements necessitating areallocation of bandwidth, the number of downlink spectral segments 1906and uplink spectral segments 1910 can be changed by way of the generalcontrol channel. Additionally, the downlink spectral segments 1906 anduplink spectral segments 1910 do not have to be grouped separately. Forinstance, a general control channel can identify a downlink spectralsegment 1906 being followed by an uplink spectral segment 1910 in analternating fashion, or in any other combinations which may or may notbe symmetric. It is further noted that instead of utilizing a generalcontrol channel, multiple control channels can be used, each identifyingthe frequency position of one or more spectral segments and the type ofspectral segment (i.e., uplink or downlink).

Further, while the downstream channel band 1944 and upstream channelband 1946 are shown as occupying a single contiguous frequency band, inother embodiments, two or more upstream and/or two or more downstreamchannel bands can be employed, depending on available spectrum and/orthe communication standards employed. Frequency channels of the uplinkspectral segments 1910 and downlink spectral segments 1906 can beoccupied by frequency converted signals modulated formatted inaccordance with a DOCSIS 2.0 or higher standard protocol, a WiMAXstandard protocol, an ultra-wideband protocol, a 802.11 standardprotocol, a 4G or 5G voice and data protocol such as an LTE protocoland/or other standard communication protocols. In addition to protocolsthat conform with current standards, any of these protocols can bemodified to operate in conjunction with the system shown. For example, a802.11 protocol or other protocols can be modified to include additionalguidelines and/or a separate data channel to provide collisiondetection/multiple access over a wider area (e.g., allowing devices thatare communicating via a particular frequency channel to hear oneanother). In various embodiments all of the uplink frequency channels ofthe uplink spectral segments 1910 and downlink frequency channel of thedownlink spectral segments 1906 are all formatted in accordance with thesame communications protocol. In the alternative however, two or morediffering protocols can be employed on both the uplink frequencychannels of one or more uplink spectral segments 1910 and downlinkfrequency channels of one or more downlink spectral segments 1906 to,for example, be compatible with a wider range of client devices and/oroperate in different frequency bands.

It should be noted that, the modulated signals can be gathered fromdiffering original/native spectral segments for aggregation into thespectrum 1942. In this fashion, a first portion of uplink frequencychannels of an uplink spectral segment 1910 may be adjacent to a secondportion of uplink frequency channels of the uplink spectral segment 1910that have been frequency converted from one or more differingoriginal/native spectral segments. Similarly, a first portion ofdownlink frequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1906 may beadjacent to a second portion of downlink frequency channels of thedownlink spectral segment 1906 that have been frequency converted fromone or more differing original/native spectral segments. For example,one or more 2.4 GHz 802.11 channels that have been frequency convertedmay be adjacent to one or more 5.8 GHz 802.11 channels that have alsobeen frequency converted to a spectrum 1942 that is centered at 80 GHz.It should be noted that each spectral segment can have an associatedreference signal such as a pilot signal that can be used in generating alocal oscillator signal at a frequency and phase that provides thefrequency conversion of one or more frequency channels of that spectralsegment from its placement in the spectrum 1942 back into itoriginal/native spectral segment.

Turning now to FIG. 19E, a graphical diagram 1950 illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a frequency spectrum is shown. Inparticular a spectral segment selection is presented as discussed inconjunction with signal processing performed on the selected spectralsegment by transceivers 1930 of communication node 1840A or transceiver1932 of communication node 1804B-E. As shown, a particular uplinkfrequency portion 1958 including one of the uplink spectral segments1910 of uplink frequency channel band 1946 and a particular downlinkfrequency portion 1956 including one of the downlink spectral segments1906 of downlink channel frequency band 1944 is selected to be passed bychannel selection filtration, with the remaining portions of uplinkfrequency channel band 1946 and downlink channel frequency band 1944being filtered out—i.e., attenuated so as to mitigate adverse effects ofthe processing of the desired frequency channels that are passed by thetransceiver. It should be noted that while a single particular uplinkspectral segment 1910 and a particular downlink spectral segment 1906are shown as being selected, two or more uplink and/or downlink spectralsegments may be passed in other embodiments.

While the transceivers 1930 and 1932 can operate based on static channelfilters with the uplink and downlink frequency portions 1958 and 1956being fixed, as previously discussed, instructions sent to thetransceivers 1930 and 1932 via the control channel can be used todynamically configure the transceivers 1930 and 1932 to a particularfrequency selection. In this fashion, upstream and downstream frequencychannels of corresponding spectral segments can be dynamically allocatedto various communication nodes by the macro base station 1802 or othernetwork elements of a communication network to optimize performance bythe distributed antenna system.

Turning now to FIG. 19F, a graphical diagram 1960 illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a frequency spectrum is shown. Inparticular, a spectrum 1962 is shown for a distributed antenna systemthat conveys modulated signals occupying frequency channels of uplink ordownlink spectral segments after they have been converted in frequency(e.g., via up-conversion or down-conversion) from one or moreoriginal/native spectral segments into the spectrum 1962.

As previously discussed two or more different communication protocolscan be employed to communicate upstream and downstream data. When two ormore differing protocols are employed, a first subset of the downlinkfrequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1906 can be occupiedby frequency converted modulated signals in accordance with a firststandard protocol and a second subset of the downlink frequency channelsof the same or a different downlink spectral segment 1910 can beoccupied by frequency converted modulated signals in accordance with asecond standard protocol that differs from the first standard protocol.Likewise a first subset of the uplink frequency channels of an uplinkspectral segment 1910 can be received by the system for demodulation inaccordance with the first standard protocol and a second subset of theuplink frequency channels of the same or a different uplink spectralsegment 1910 can be received in accordance with a second standardprotocol for demodulation in accordance with the second standardprotocol that differs from the first standard protocol.

In the example shown, the downstream channel band 1944 includes a firstplurality of downstream spectral segments represented by separatespectral shapes of a first type representing the use of a firstcommunication protocol. The downstream channel band 1944′ includes asecond plurality of downstream spectral segments represented by separatespectral shapes of a second type representing the use of a secondcommunication protocol. Likewise the upstream channel band 1946 includesa first plurality of upstream spectral segments represented by separatespectral shapes of the first type representing the use of the firstcommunication protocol. The upstream channel band 1946′ includes asecond plurality of upstream spectral segments represented by separatespectral shapes of the second type representing the use of the secondcommunication protocol. These separate spectral shapes are meant to beplaceholders for the frequency allocation of each individual spectralsegment along with associated reference signals, control channels and/orclock signals. While the individual channel bandwidth is shown as beingroughly the same for channels of the first and second type, it should benoted that upstream and downstream channel bands 1944, 1944′, 1946 and1946′ may be of differing bandwidths. Additionally, the spectralsegments in these channel bands of the first and second type may be ofdiffering bandwidths, depending on available spectrum and/or thecommunication standards employed.

Turning now to FIG. 19G, a graphical diagram 1970 illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a frequency spectrum is shown. Inparticular a portion of the spectrum 1942 or 1962 of FIGS. 19D-19F isshown for a distributed antenna system that conveys modulated signals inthe form of channel signals that have been converted in frequency (e.g.,via up-conversion or down-conversion) from one or more original/nativespectral segments.

The portion 1972 includes a portion of a downlink or uplink spectralsegment 1906 and 1910 that is represented by a spectral shape and thatrepresents a portion of the bandwidth set aside for a control channel,reference signal, and/or clock signal. The spectral shape 1974, forexample, represents a control channel that is separate from referencesignal 1979 and a clock signal 1978. It should be noted that the clocksignal 1978 is shown with a spectral shape representing a sinusoidalsignal that may require conditioning into the form of a more traditionalclock signal. In other embodiments however, a traditional clock signalcould be sent as a modulated carrier wave such by modulating thereference signal 1979 via amplitude modulation or other modulationtechniques that preserve the phase of the carrier for use as a phasereference. In other embodiments, the clock signal could be transmittedby modulating another carrier wave or as another signal. Further, it isnoted that both the clock signal 1978 and the reference signal 1979 areshown as being outside the frequency band of the control channel 1974.

In another example, the portion 1975 includes a portion of a downlink oruplink spectral segment 1906 and 1910 that is represented by a portionof a spectral shape that represents a portion of the bandwidth set asidefor a control channel, reference signal, and/or clock signal. Thespectral shape 1976 represents a control channel having instructionsthat include digital data that modulates the reference signal, viaamplitude modulation, amplitude shift keying or other modulationtechniques that preserve the phase of the carrier for use as a phasereference. The clock signal 1978 is shown as being outside the frequencyband of the spectral shape 1976. The reference signal, being modulatedby the control channel instructions, is in effect a subcarrier of thecontrol channel and is in-band to the control channel. Again, the clocksignal 1978 is shown with a spectral shape representing a sinusoidalsignal, in other embodiments however, a traditional clock signal couldbe sent as a modulated carrier wave or other signals. In this case, theinstructions of the control channel can be used to modulate the clocksignal 1978 instead of the reference signal.

Consider the following example, where the control channel 1976 iscarried via modulation of a reference signal in the form of a continuouswave (CW) from which the phase distortion in the receiver is correctedduring frequency conversion of the downlink or uplink spectral segment1906 and 1910 back to its original/native spectral segment. The controlchannel 1976 can be modulated with a robust modulation such as pulseamplitude modulation, binary phase shift keying, amplitude shift keyingor other modulation schemes to carry instructions between networkelements of the distributed antenna system such as network operations,administration and management traffic and other control data. In variousembodiments, the control data can include without limitation:

-   -   Status information that indicates online status, offline status,        and network performance parameters of each network element.    -   Network device information such as module names and addresses,        hardware and software versions, device capabilities, etc.    -   Spectral information such as frequency conversion factors,        channel spacing, guard bands, uplink/downlink allocations,        uplink and downlink channel selections, etc.    -   Environmental measurements such as weather conditions, image        data, power outage information, line of sight blockages, etc.

In a further example, the control channel data can be sent viaultra-wideband (UWB) signaling. The control channel data can betransmitted by generating radio energy at specific time intervals andoccupying a larger bandwidth, via pulse-position or time modulation, byencoding the polarity or amplitude of the UWB pulses and/or by usingorthogonal pulses. In particular, UWB pulses can be sent sporadically atrelatively low pulse rates to support time or position modulation, butcan also be sent at rates up to the inverse of the UWB pulse bandwidth.In this fashion, the control channel can be spread over an UWB spectrumwith relatively low power, and without interfering with CW transmissionsof the reference signal and/or clock signal that may occupy in-bandportions of the UWB spectrum of the control channel.

Turning now to FIG. 19H, a block diagram 1980 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a transmitter is shown. In particular, atransmitter 1982 is shown for use with, for example, a receiver 1981 anda digital control channel processor 1995 in a transceiver, such astransceiver 1933 presented in conjunction with FIG. 19C. As shown, thetransmitter 1982 includes an analog front-end 1986, clock signalgenerator 1989, a local oscillator 1992, a mixer 1996, and a transmitterfront end 1984.

The amplified first modulated signal at the first carrier frequencytogether with the reference signals, control channels and/or clocksignals are coupled from the amplifier 1938 to the analog front-end1986. The analog front end 1986 includes one or more filters or otherfrequency selections to separate the control channel signal 1987, aclock reference signal 1978, a pilot signal 1991 and one or moreselected channels signals 1994.

The digital control channel processor 1995 performs digital signalprocessing on the control channel to recover the instructions, such asvia demodulation of digital control channel data, from the controlchannel signal 1987. The clock signal generator 1989 generates the clocksignal 1990, from the clock reference signal 1978, to synchronize timingof the digital control channel processing by the digital control channelprocessor 1995. In embodiments where the clock reference signal 1978 isa sinusoid, the clock signal generator 1989 can provide amplificationand limiting to create a traditional clock signal or other timingsignals from the sinusoid. In embodiments where the clock referencesignal 1978 is a modulated carrier signal, such as a modulation of thereference or pilot signal or other carrier waves, the clock signalgenerator 1989 can provide demodulation to create a traditional clocksignal or other timing signals.

In various embodiments, the control channel signal 1987 can be either adigitally modulated signal in a range of frequencies separate from thepilot signal 1991 and the clock reference 1988 or as modulation of thepilot signal 1991. In operation, the digital control channel processor1995 provides demodulation of the control channel signal 1987 to extractthe instructions contained therein in order to generate a control signal1993. In particular, the control signal 1993 generated by the digitalcontrol channel processor 1995 in response to instructions received viathe control channel can be used to select the particular channel signals1994 along with the corresponding pilot signal 1991 and/or clockreference 1988 to be used for converting the frequencies of channelsignals 1994 for transmission via wireless interface 1811. It should benoted that in circumstances where the control channel signal 1987conveys the instructions via modulation of the pilot signal 1991, thepilot signal 1991 can be extracted via the digital control channelprocessor 1995 rather than the analog front-end 1986 as shown.

The digital control channel processor 1995 may be implemented via aprocessing module such as a microprocessor, micro-controller, digitalsignal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, fieldprogrammable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logiccircuitry, digital circuitry, an analog to digital converter, a digitalto analog converter and/or any device that manipulates signals (analogand/or digital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/or operationalinstructions. The processing module may be, or further include, memoryand/or an integrated memory element, which may be a single memorydevice, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry ofanother processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processingunit. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random accessmemory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamicmemory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device that storesdigital information. Note that if the processing module includes morethan one processing device, the processing devices may be centrallylocated (e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless busstructure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloud computing viaindirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network).Further note that the memory and/or memory element storing thecorresponding operational instructions may be embedded within, orexternal to, the microprocessor, micro-controller, digital signalprocessor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmablegate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry,digital circuitry, an analog to digital converter, a digital to analogconverter or other devices. Still further note that, the memory elementmay store, and the processing module executes, hard coded and/oroperational instructions corresponding to at least some of the stepsand/or functions described herein and such a memory device or memoryelement can be implemented as an article of manufacture.

The local oscillator 1992 generates the local oscillator signal 1997utilizing the pilot signal 1991 to reduce distortion during thefrequency conversion process. In various embodiments the pilot signal1991 is at the correct frequency and phase of the local oscillatorsignal 1997 to generate the local oscillator signal 1997 at the properfrequency and phase to convert the channel signals 1994 at the carrierfrequency associated with their placement in the spectrum of thedistributed antenna system to their original/native spectral segmentsfor transmission to fixed or mobile communication devices. In this case,the local oscillator 1992 can employ bandpass filtration and/or othersignal conditioning to generate a sinusoidal local oscillator signal1997 that preserves the frequency and phase of the pilot signal 1991. Inother embodiments, the pilot signal 1991 has a frequency and phase thatcan be used to derive the local oscillator signal 1997. In this case,the local oscillator 1992 employs frequency division, frequencymultiplication or other frequency synthesis, based on the pilot signal1991, to generate the local oscillator signal 1997 at the properfrequency and phase to convert the channel signals 1994 at the carrierfrequency associated with their placement in the spectrum of thedistributed antenna system to their original/native spectral segmentsfor transmission to fixed or mobile communication devices.

The mixer 1996 operates based on the local oscillator signal 1997 toshift the channel signals 1994 in frequency to generate frequencyconverted channel signals 1998 at their corresponding original/nativespectral segments. While a single mixing stage is shown, multiple mixingstages can be employed to shift the channel signals to baseband and/orone or more intermediate frequencies as part of the total frequencyconversion. The transmitter (Xmtr) front-end 1984 includes a poweramplifier and impedance matching to wirelessly transmit the frequencyconverted channel signals 1998 as a free space wireless signals via oneor more antennas, such as antennas 1824, to one or more mobile or fixedcommunication devices in range of the communication node 1804B-E.

Turning now to FIG. 19I, a block diagram 1985 illustrating an example,non-limiting embodiment of a receiver is shown. In particular, areceiver 1981 is shown for use with, for example, transmitter 1982 anddigital control channel processor 1995 in a transceiver, such astransceiver 1933 presented in conjunction with FIG. 19C. As shown, thereceiver 1981 includes an analog receiver (RCVR) front-end 1983, localoscillator 1992, and mixer 1996. The digital control channel processor1995 operates under control of instructions from the control channel togenerate the pilot signal 1991, control channel signal 1987 and clockreference signal 1978.

The control signal 1993 generated by the digital control channelprocessor 1995 in response to instructions received via the controlchannel can also be used to select the particular channel signals 1994along with the corresponding pilot signal 1991 and/or clock reference1988 to be used for converting the frequencies of channel signals 1994for reception via wireless interface 1811. The analog receiver front end1983 includes a low noise amplifier and one or more filters or otherfrequency selections to receive one or more selected channels signals1994 under control of the control signal 1993.

The local oscillator 1992 generates the local oscillator signal 1997utilizing the pilot signal 1991 to reduce distortion during thefrequency conversion process. In various embodiments the localoscillator employs bandpass filtration and/or other signal conditioning,frequency division, frequency multiplication or other frequencysynthesis, based on the pilot signal 1991, to generate the localoscillator signal 1997 at the proper frequency and phase to frequencyconvert the channel signals 1994, the pilot signal 1991, control channelsignal 1987 and clock reference signal 1978 to the spectrum of thedistributed antenna system for transmission to other communication nodes1804A-E. In particular, the mixer 1996 operates based on the localoscillator signal 1997 to shift the channel signals 1994 in frequency togenerate frequency converted channel signals 1998 at the desiredplacement within spectrum spectral segment of the distributed antennasystem for coupling to the amplifier 1938, to transceiver 1936A foramplification and retransmission via the transceiver 1936A back to thecommunication node 1804A or upstream communication nodes 1804B-E forfurther retransmission back to a base station, such as macro basestation 1802, for processing. Again, while a single mixing stage isshown, multiple mixing stages can be employed to shift the channelsignals to baseband and/or one or more intermediate frequencies as partof the total frequency conversion.

Turning now to FIG. 20A, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2000, is shown. Method 2000 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19.Method 2000 can begin with step 2002 in which a base station, such asthe macro base station 1802 of FIG. 18A, determines a rate of travel ofa communication device. The communication device can be a mobilecommunication device such as one of the mobile devices 1806 illustratedin FIG. 18B, or stationary communication device (e.g., a communicationdevice in a residence, or commercial establishment). The base stationcan communicate directly with the communication device utilizingwireless cellular communications technology (e.g., LTE), which enablesthe base station to monitor the movement of the communication device byreceiving location information from the communication device, and/or toprovide the communication device wireless communication services such asvoice and/or data services. During a communication session, the basestation and the communication device exchange wireless signals thatoperate at a certain native/original carrier frequency (e.g., a 900 MHzband, 1.9 GHz band, a 2.4 GHz band, and/or a 5.8 GHz band, etc.)utilizing one or more spectral segments (e.g., resource blocks) of acertain bandwidth (e.g., 10-20 MHz). In some embodiments, the spectralsegments are used according to a time slot schedule assigned to thecommunication device by the base station.

The rate of travel of the communication device can be determined at step2002 from GPS coordinates provided by the communication device to thebase station by way of cellular wireless signals. If the rate of travelis above a threshold (e.g., 25 miles per hour) at step 2004, the basestation can continue to provide wireless services to the communicationdevice at step 2006 utilizing the wireless resources of the basestation. If, on the other hand, the communication device has a rate oftravel below the threshold, the base station can be configured tofurther determine whether the communication device can be redirected toa communication node to make available the wireless resources of thebase station for other communication devices.

For example, suppose the base station detects that the communicationdevice has a slow rate of travel (e.g., 3 mph or near stationary). Undercertain circumstances, the base station may also determine that acurrent location of the communication device places the communicationdevice in a communication range of a particular communication node 1804.The base station may also determine that the slow rate of travel of thecommunication device will maintain the communication device within thecommunication range of the particular communication node 1804 for asufficiently long enough time (another threshold test that can be usedby the base station) to justify redirecting the communication device tothe particular communication node 1804. Once such a determination ismade, the base station can proceed to step 2008 and select thecommunication node 1804 that is in the communication range of thecommunication device for providing communication services thereto.

Accordingly, the selection process performed at step 2008 can be basedon a location of the communication device determined from GPScoordinates provided to the base station by the communication device.The selection process can also be based on a trajectory of travel of thecommunication device, which may be determined from several instances ofGPS coordinates provided by the communication device. In someembodiments, the base station may determine that the trajectory of thecommunication device will eventually place the communication device in acommunication range of a subsequent communication node 1804 neighboringthe communication node selected at step 2008. In this embodiment, thebase station can inform multiple communication nodes 1804 of thistrajectory to enable the communication nodes 1804 coordinate a handoffof communication services provided to the communication device.

Once one or more communication nodes 1804 have been selected at step2008, the base station can proceed to step 2010 where it assigns one ormore spectral segments (e.g., resource blocks) for use by thecommunication device at a first carrier frequency (e.g., 1.9 GHz). It isnot necessary for the first carrier frequency and/or spectral segmentsselected by the base station to be the same as the carrier frequencyand/or spectral segments in use between the base station and thecommunication device. For example, suppose the base station and thecommunication device are utilizing a carrier frequency at 1.9 GHz forwireless communications between each other. The base station can selecta different carrier frequency (e.g., 900 MHz) at step 2010 for thecommunication node selected at step 2008 to communicate with thecommunication device. Similarly, the base station can assign spectralsegment(s) (e.g., resource blocks) and/or a timeslot schedule of thespectral segment(s) to the communication node that differs from thespectral segment(s) and/or timeslot schedule in use between the basestation and the communication device.

At step 2012, the base station can generate first modulated signal(s) inthe spectral segment(s) assigned in step 2010 at the first carrierfrequency. The first modulated signal(s) can include data directed tothe communication device, the data representative of a voicecommunication session, a data communication session, or a combinationthereof. At step 2014, the base station can up-convert (with a mixer,bandpass filter and other circuitries) the first modulated signal(s) atthe first native carrier frequency (e.g., 1.9 GHz) to a second carrierfrequency (e.g., 80 GHz) for transport of such signals in one or morefrequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1906 which is directedto the communication node 1804 selected at step 2008. Alternatively, thebase station can provide the first modulated signal(s) at the firstcarrier frequency to the first communication node 1804A (illustrated inFIG. 18A) for up-conversion to the second carrier frequency fortransport in one or more frequency channels of a downlink spectralsegment 1906 directed to the communication node 1804 selected at step2008.

At step 2016, the base station can also transmit instructions totransition the communication device to the communication node 1804selected at step 2008. The instructions can be directed to thecommunication device while the communication device is in directcommunications with the base station utilizing the wireless resources ofthe base station. Alternatively, the instructions can be communicated tothe communication node 1804 selected at step 2008 by way of a controlchannel 1902 of the downlink spectral segment 1906 illustrated in FIG.19A. Step 2016 can occur before, after or contemporaneously with steps2012-2014.

Once the instructions have been transmitted, the base station canproceed to step 2018 where it transmits in one or more frequencychannels of a downlink spectral segment 1906 the first modulated signalat the second carrier frequency (e.g., 80 GHz) for transmission by thefirst communication node 1804A (illustrated in FIG. 18A). Alternatively,the first communication node 1804A can perform the up-conversion at step2014 for transport of the first modulated signal at the second carrierfrequency in one or more frequency channels of a downlink spectralsegment 1906 upon receiving from the base station the first modulatedsignal(s) at the first native carrier frequency. The first communicationnode 1804A can serve as a master communication node for distributingdownlink signals generated by the base station to downstreamcommunication nodes 1804 according to the downlink spectral segments1906 assigned to each communication node 1804 at step 2010. Theassignment of the downlink spectral segments 1906 can be provided to thecommunication nodes 1804 by way of instructions transmitted by the firstcommunication node 1804A in the control channel 1902 illustrated in FIG.19A. At step 2018, the communication node 1804 receiving the firstmodulated signal(s) at the second carrier frequency in one or morefrequency channels of a downlink spectral segment 1906 can be configuredto down-convert it to the first carrier frequency, and utilize the pilotsignal supplied with the first modulated signal(s) to remove distortions(e.g., phase distortion) caused by the distribution of the downlinkspectral segments 1906 over communication hops between the communicationnodes 1804B-D. In particular, the pilot signal can be derived from thelocal oscillator signal used to generate the frequency up-conversion(e.g., via frequency multiplication and/or division). When downconversion is required the pilot signal can be used to recreate afrequency and phase correct version of the local oscillator signal(e.g., via frequency multiplication and/or division) to return themodulated signal to its original portion of the frequency band withminimal phase error. In this fashion, the frequency channels of acommunication system can be converted in frequency for transport via thedistributed antenna system and then returned to their original positionin the spectrum for transmission to wireless client device.

Once the down-conversion process is completed, the communication node1804 can transmit at step 2022 the first modulated signal at the firstnative carrier frequency (e.g., 1.9 GHz) to the communication deviceutilizing the same spectral segment assigned to the communication node1804. Step 2022 can be coordinated so that it occurs after thecommunication device has transitioned to the communication node 1804 inaccordance with the instructions provided at step 2016. To make such atransition seamless, and so as to avoid interrupting an existingwireless communication session between the base station and thecommunication device, the instructions provided in step 2016 can directthe communication device and/or the communication node 1804 totransition to the assigned spectral segment(s) and/or time slot scheduleas part of and/or subsequent to a registration process between thecommunication device and the communication node 1804 selected at step2008. In some instances such a transition may require that thecommunication device to have concurrent wireless communications with thebase station and the communication node 1804 for a short period of time.

Once the communication device successfully transitions to thecommunication node 1804, the communication device can terminate wirelesscommunications with the base station, and continue the communicationsession by way of the communication node 1804. Termination of wirelessservices between the base station and the communication device makescertain wireless resources of the base station available for use withother communication devices. It should be noted that although the basestation has in the foregoing steps delegated wireless connectivity to aselect communication node 1804, the communication session between basestation and the communication device continues as before by way of thenetwork of communication nodes 1804 illustrated in FIG. 18A. Thedifference is, however, that the base station no longer needs to utilizeits own wireless resources to communicate with the communication device.

In order to provide bidirectional communications between the basestation and the communication device, by way of the network ofcommunication nodes 1804, the communication node 1804 and/or thecommunication device can be instructed to utilize one or more frequencychannels of one or more uplink spectral segments 1910 on the uplinkillustrated in FIG. 19A. Uplink instructions can be provided to thecommunication node 1804 and/or communication device at step 2016 as partof and/or subsequent to the registration process between thecommunication device and the communication node 1804 selected at step2008. Accordingly, when the communication device has data it needs totransmit to the base station, it can wirelessly transmit secondmodulated signal(s) at the first native carrier frequency which can bereceived by the communication node 1804 at step 2024. The secondmodulated signal(s) can be included in one or more frequency channels ofone or more uplink spectral segments 1910 specified in the instructionsprovided to the communication device and/or communication node at step2016.

To convey the second modulated signal(s) to the base station, thecommunication node 1804 can up-convert these signals at step 2026 fromthe first native carrier frequency (e.g., 1.9 GHz) to the second carrierfrequency (e.g., 80 GHz). To enable upstream communication nodes and/orthe base station to remove distortion, the second modulated signal(s) atthe second carrier frequency can be transmitted at step 2028 by thecommunication node 1804 with one or more uplink pilot signals 1908. Oncethe base station receives the second modulated signal(s) at the secondcarrier frequency via communication node 1804A, it can down-convertthese signals at step 2030 from the second carrier frequency to thefirst native carrier frequency to obtain data provided by thecommunication device at step 2032. Alternatively, the firstcommunication node 1804A can perform the down-conversion of the secondmodulated signal(s) at the second carrier frequency to the first nativecarrier frequency and provide the resulting signals to the base station.The base station can then process the second modulated signal(s) at thefirst native carrier frequency to retrieve data provided by thecommunication device in a manner similar or identical to how the basestation would have processed signals from the communication device hadthe base station been in direct wireless communications with thecommunication device.

The foregoing steps of method 2000 provide a way for a base station 1802to make available wireless resources (e.g., sector antennas, spectrum)for fast moving communication devices and in some embodiments increasebandwidth utilization by redirecting slow moving communication devicesto one or more communication nodes 1804 communicatively coupled to thebase station 1802. For example, suppose a base station 1802 has ten (10)communication nodes 1804 that it can redirect mobile and/or stationarycommunication devices to. Further suppose that the 10 communicationnodes 1804 have substantially non-overlapping communication ranges.

Further suppose, the base station 1802 has set aside certain spectralsegments (e.g., resource blocks 5, 7 and 9) during particular timeslotsand at a particular carrier frequency, which it assigns to all 10communication nodes 1804. During operations, the base station 1802 canbe configured not to utilize resource blocks 5, 7 and 9 during thetimeslot schedule and carrier frequency set aside for the communicationnodes 1804 to avoid interference. As the base station 1802 detects slowmoving or stationary communication devices, it can redirect thecommunication devices to different ones of the 10 communication nodes1804 based on the location of the communication devices. When, forexample, the base station 1802 redirects communications of a particularcommunication device to a particular communication node 1804, the basestation 1802 can up-convert resource blocks 5, 7 and 9 during theassigned timeslots and at the carrier frequency to one or more spectralrange(s) on the downlink (see FIG. 19A) assigned to the communicationnode 1804 in question.

The communication node 1804 in question can also be assigned to one ormore frequency channels of one or more uplink spectral segments 1910 onthe uplink which it can use to redirect communication signals providedby the communication device to the base station 1802. Such communicationsignals can be up-converted by the communication node 1804 according tothe assigned uplink frequency channels in one or more correspondinguplink spectral segments 1910 and transmitted to the base station 1802for processing. The downlink and uplink frequency channel assignmentscan be communicated by the base station 1802 to each communication node1804 by way of a control channel as depicted in FIG. 19A. The foregoingdownlink and uplink assignment process can also be used for the othercommunication nodes 1804 for providing communication services to othercommunication devices redirected by the base station 1802 thereto.

In this illustration, the reuse of resource blocks 5, 7 and 9 during acorresponding timeslot schedule and carrier frequency by the 10communication nodes 1804 can effectively increase bandwidth utilizationby the base station 1802 up to a factor of 10. Although the base station1802 can no longer use resource blocks 5, 7 and 9 it set aside for the10 communication nodes 1804 for wirelessly communicating with othercommunication devices, its ability to redirect communication devices to10 different communication nodes 1804 reusing these resource blockseffectively increases the bandwidth capabilities of the base station1802. Accordingly, method 2000 in certain embodiments can increasebandwidth utilization of a base station 1802 and make availableresources of the base station 1802 for other communication devices.

It will be appreciated that in some embodiments, the base station 1802can be configured to reuse spectral segments assigned to communicationnodes 1804 by selecting one or more sectors of an antenna system of thebase station 1802 that point away from the communication nodes 1804assigned to the same spectral segments. Accordingly, the base station1802 can be configured in some embodiments to avoid reusing certainspectral segments assigned to certain communication nodes 1804 and inother embodiments reuse other spectral segments assigned to othercommunication nodes 1804 by selecting specific sectors of the antennasystem of the base station 1802. Similar concepts can be applied tosectors of the antenna system 1824 employed by the communication nodes1804. Certain reuse schemes can be employed between the base station1802 and one or more communication nodes 1804 based on sectors utilizedby the base station 1802 and/or the one or more communication nodes1804.

Method 2000 also enables the reuse of legacy systems when communicationdevices are redirected to one or more communication nodes. For example,the signaling protocol (e.g., LTE) utilized by the base station towirelessly communicate with the communication device can be preserved inthe communication signals exchanged between the base station and thecommunication nodes 1804. Accordingly, when assigning spectral segmentsto the communication nodes 1804, the exchange of modulated signals inthese segments between the base station and the communication nodes 1804can be the same signals that would have been used by the base station toperform direct wireless communications with the communication device.Thus, legacy base stations can be updated to perform the up anddown-conversion process previously described, with the added feature ofdistortion mitigation, while all other functions performed in hardwareand/or software for processing modulated signals at the first nativecarrier frequency can remain substantially unaltered. It should also benoted that, in further embodiments, channels from an original frequencyband can be converted to another frequency band utilizing by the sameprotocol. For example, LTE channels in the 2.5 GHz band can beup-converted into a 80 GHZ band for transport and then down-converted as5.8 GHz LTE channels if required for spectral diversity.

It is further noted that method 2000 can be adapted without departingfrom the scope of the subject disclosure. For example, when the basestation detects that a communication device has a trajectory that willresult in a transition from the communication range of one communicationnode to another, the base station (or the communication nodes inquestion) can monitor such a trajectory by way of periodic GPScoordinates provided by the communication device, and accordinglycoordinate a handoff of the communication device to the othercommunication node. Method 2000 can also be adapted so that when thecommunication device is near a point of transitioning from thecommunication range of one communication node to another, instructionscan be transmitted by the base station (or the active communicationnode) to direct the communication device and/or the other communicationnode to utilize certain spectral segments and/or timeslots in thedownlink and uplink channels to successfully transition communicationswithout interrupting an existing communication session.

It is further noted that method 2000 can also be adapted to coordinate ahandoff of wireless communications between the communication device anda communication node 1804 back to the base station when the base stationor the active communication node 1804 detects that the communicationdevice will at some point transition outside of a communication range ofthe communication node and no other communication node is in acommunication range of the communication device. Other adaptations ofmethod 2000 are contemplated by the subject disclosure. It is furthernoted that when a carrier frequency of a downlink or uplink spectralsegment is lower than a native frequency band of a modulated signal, areverse process of frequency conversion would be required. That is, whentransporting a modulated signal in a downlink or uplink spectral segmentfrequency down-conversion will be used instead of up-conversion. Andwhen extracting a modulated signal in a downlink or uplink spectralsegment frequency up-conversion will be used instead of down-conversion.Method 2000 can further be adapted to use the clock signal referred toabove for synchronizing the processing of digital data in a controlchannel. Method 2000 can also be adapted to use a reference signal thatis modulated by instructions in the control channel or a clock signalthat is modulated by instructions in the control channel.

Method 2000 can further be adapted to avoid tracking of movement of acommunication device and instead direct multiple communication nodes1804 to transmit the modulated signal of a particular communicationdevice at its native frequency without knowledge of which communicationnode is in a communication range of the particular communication device.Similarly, each communication node can be instructed to receivemodulated signals from the particular communication device and transportsuch signals in certain frequency channels of one or more uplinkspectral segments 1910 without knowledge as to which communication nodewill receive modulated signals from the particular communication device.Such an implementation can help reduce the implementation complexity andcost of the communication nodes 1804.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 20A, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 20B, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2035, is shown. Method 2035 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19.Step 2036 includes receiving, by a system including circuitry, a firstmodulated signal in a first spectral segment directed to a mobilecommunication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol. Step 2037 includes converting, by the system, thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and without modifying thesignaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the firstcarrier frequency is outside the first spectral segment. Step 2038includes transmitting, by the system, a reference signal with the firstmodulated signal at the first carrier frequency to a network element ofa distributed antenna system, the reference signal enabling the networkelement to reduce a phase error when reconverting the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulated signal inthe first spectral segment for wireless distribution of the firstmodulated signal to the mobile communication device in the firstspectral segment.

In various embodiments, the signal processing does not require eitheranalog to digital conversion or digital to analog conversion. Thetransmitting can comprise transmitting to the network element the firstmodulated signal at the first carrier frequency as a free space wirelesssignal. The first carrier frequency can be in a millimeter-wavefrequency band.

The first modulated signal can be generated by modulating signals in aplurality of frequency channels according to the signaling protocol togenerate the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment. Thesignaling protocol can comprise a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wirelessprotocol or a fifth generation cellular communications protocol.

Converting by the system can comprise up-converting the first modulatedsignal in the first spectral segment to the first modulated signal atthe first carrier frequency or down-converting the first modulatedsignal in the first spectral segment to the first modulated signal atthe first carrier frequency. Converting by the network element cancomprises down-converting the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the first spectralsegment or up-converting the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency to the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment.

The method can further include receiving, by the system, a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from the network element,wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulatedsignal in a second spectral segment, and wherein the network elementconverts the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency andtransmits the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency.The method can further include converting, by the system, the secondmodulated signal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment; and sending, by the system, thesecond modulated signal in the second spectral segment to a base stationfor processing.

The second spectral segment can differ from the first spectral segment,and wherein the first carrier frequency can differ from the secondcarrier frequency. The system can be mounted to a first utility pole andthe network element can be mounted to a second utility pole.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 20B, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 20C, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2040, is shown. Method 2035 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19.Step 2041 include receiving, by a network element of a distributedantenna system, a reference signal and a first modulated signal at afirst carrier frequency, the first modulated signal including firstcommunications data provided by a base station and directed to a mobilecommunication device. Step 2042 includes converting, by the networkelement, the first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency tothe first modulated signal in a first spectral segment based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and utilizing the referencesignal to reduce distortion during the converting. Step 2043 includeswirelessly transmitting, by the network element, the first modulatedsignal at the first spectral segment to the mobile communication device.

In various embodiments the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol, and the signal processing converts the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency without modifying the signalingprotocol of the first modulated signal. The converting by the networkelement can include converting the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the first spectralsegment without modifying the signaling protocol of the first modulatedsignal. The method can further include receiving, by the networkelement, a second modulated signal in a second spectral segmentgenerated by the mobile communication device, converting, by the networkelement, the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at a second carrier frequency; andtransmitting, by the network element, to another network element of thedistributed antenna system the second modulated signal at the secondcarrier frequency. The other network element of the distributed antennasystem can receive the second modulated signal at the second carrierfrequency, converts the second modulated signal at the second carrierfrequency to the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment,and provides the second modulated signal in the second spectral segmentto the base station for processing. The second spectral segment candiffers from the first spectral segment, and the first carrier frequencycan differ from the second carrier frequency.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 20C, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 20D, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2045, is shown. Method 2045 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19.Step 2046 includes receiving, by a system including circuitry, a firstmodulated signal in a first spectral segment directed to a mobilecommunication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol. Step 2047 includes converting, by the system, thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and without modifying thesignaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the firstcarrier frequency is outside the first spectral segment. Step 2048includes transmitting, by the system, instructions in a control channelto direct a network element of the distributed antenna system to convertthe first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment. Step 2049 includestransmitting, by the system, a reference signal with the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the network element of adistributed antenna system, the reference signal enabling the networkelement to reduce a phase error when reconverting the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulated signal inthe first spectral segment for wireless distribution of the firstmodulated signal to the mobile communication device in the firstspectral segment, wherein the reference signal is transmitted at an outof band frequency relative to the control channel.

In various embodiments, the control channel is transmitted at afrequency adjacent to the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency and/or at a frequency adjacent to the reference signal. Thefirst carrier frequency can be in a millimeter-wave frequency band. Thefirst modulated signal can be generated by modulating signals in aplurality of frequency channels according to the signaling protocol togenerate the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment. Thesignaling protocol can comprise a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wirelessprotocol or a fifth generation cellular communications protocol.

The converting by the system can comprises up-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency or down-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency. The converting by the networkelement can comprise down-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment or up-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment.

The method can further include receiving, by the system, a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from the network element,wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulatedsignal in a second spectral segment, and wherein the network elementconverts the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency andtransmits the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency.The method can further include converting, by the system, the secondmodulated signal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment; and sending, by the system, thesecond modulated signal in the second spectral segment to a base stationfor processing.

The second spectral segment can differ from the first spectral segment,and wherein the first carrier frequency can differ from the secondcarrier frequency. The system can be mounted to a first utility pole andthe network element can be mounted to a second utility pole.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 20D, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 20E, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2050, is shown. Method 2050 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19.Step 2051 includes receiving, by a network element of a distributedantenna system, a reference signal, a control channel and a firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency, the first modulatedsignal including first communications data provided by a base stationand directed to a mobile communication device, wherein instructions inthe control channel direct the network element of the distributedantenna system to convert the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency to the first modulated signal in a first spectralsegment, wherein the reference signal is received at an out of bandfrequency relative to the control channel. Step 2052 includesconverting, by the network element, the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment in accordance with the instructions and based on asignal processing of the first modulated signal and utilizing thereference signal to reduce distortion during the converting. Step 2053includes wirelessly transmitting, by the network element, the firstmodulated signal at the first spectral segment to the mobilecommunication device.

In various embodiments, the control channel can be received at afrequency adjacent to the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency and/or adjacent to the reference signal.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 20E, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 20F, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2055, is shown. Method 2055 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19.Step 2056 includes receiving, by a system including circuitry, a firstmodulated signal in a first spectral segment directed to a mobilecommunication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol. Step 2057 includes converting, by the system, thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and without modifying thesignaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the firstcarrier frequency is outside the first spectral segment. Step 2058includes transmitting, by the system, instructions in a control channelto direct a network element of the distributed antenna system to convertthe first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment. Step 2059 includestransmitting, by the system, a reference signal with the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the network element of adistributed antenna system, the reference signal enabling the networkelement to reduce a phase error when reconverting the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulated signal inthe first spectral segment for wireless distribution of the firstmodulated signal to the mobile communication device in the firstspectral segment, wherein the reference signal is transmitted at anin-band frequency relative to the control channel.

In various embodiments, the instructions are transmitted via modulationof the reference signal. The instructions can be transmitted as digitaldata via an amplitude modulation of the reference signal. The firstcarrier frequency can be in a millimeter-wave frequency band. The firstmodulated signal can be generated by modulating signals in a pluralityof frequency channels according to the signaling protocol to generatethe first modulated signal in the first spectral segment. The signalingprotocol can comprise a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless protocol or afifth generation cellular communications protocol.

The converting by the system can comprises up-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency or down-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency. The converting by the networkelement can comprise down-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment or up-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment.

The method can further include receiving, by the system, a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from the network element,wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulatedsignal in a second spectral segment, and wherein the network elementconverts the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency andtransmits the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency.The method can further include converting, by the system, the secondmodulated signal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment; and sending, by the system, thesecond modulated signal in the second spectral segment to a base stationfor processing.

The second spectral segment can differ from the first spectral segment,and wherein the first carrier frequency can differ from the secondcarrier frequency. The system can be mounted to a first utility pole andthe network element can be mounted to a second utility pole.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 20F, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 20G, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2060, is shown. Method 2060 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19.Step 2061 includes receiving, by a network element of a distributedantenna system, a reference signal, a control channel and a firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency, the first modulatedsignal including first communications data provided by a base stationand directed to a mobile communication device, wherein instructions inthe control channel direct the network element of the distributedantenna system to convert the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency to the first modulated signal in a first spectralsegment, and wherein the reference signal is received at an in-bandfrequency relative to the control channel. Step 2062 includesconverting, by the network element, the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment in accordance with the instructions and based on asignal processing of the first modulated signal and utilizing thereference signal to reduce distortion during the converting. Step 2063includes wirelessly transmitting, by the network element, the firstmodulated signal at the first spectral segment to the mobilecommunication device.

In various embodiments, the instructions are received via demodulationof the reference signal and/or as digital data via an amplitudedemodulation of the reference signal.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 20G, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 20H, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2065, is shown. Method 2065 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19.Step 2066 includes receiving, by a system including circuitry, a firstmodulated signal in a first spectral segment directed to a mobilecommunication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol. Step 2067 includes converting, by the system, thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and without modifying thesignaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the firstcarrier frequency is outside the first spectral segment. Step 2068includes transmitting, by the system, instructions in a control channelto direct a network element of the distributed antenna system to convertthe first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment. Step 2069 includestransmitting, by the system, a clock signal with the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the network element of adistributed antenna system, wherein the clock signal synchronizes timingof digital control channel processing of the network element to recoverthe instructions from the control channel.

In various embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, by thesystem, a reference signal with the first modulated signal at the firstcarrier frequency to a network element of a distributed antenna system,the reference signal enabling the network element to reduce a phaseerror when reconverting the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency to the first modulated signal in the first spectral segmentfor wireless distribution of the first modulated signal to the mobilecommunication device in the first spectral segment. The instructions canbe transmitted as digital data via the control channel.

In various embodiments, the first carrier frequency can be in amillimeter-wave frequency band. The first modulated signal can begenerated by modulating signals in a plurality of frequency channelsaccording to the signaling protocol to generate the first modulatedsignal in the first spectral segment. The signaling protocol cancomprise a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless protocol or a fifthgeneration cellular communications protocol.

The converting by the system can comprises up-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency or down-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency. The converting by the networkelement can comprise down-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment or up-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment.

The method can further include receiving, by the system, a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from the network element,wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulatedsignal in a second spectral segment, and wherein the network elementconverts the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency andtransmits the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency.The method can further include converting, by the system, the secondmodulated signal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment; and sending, by the system, thesecond modulated signal in the second spectral segment to a base stationfor processing.

The second spectral segment can differ from the first spectral segment,and wherein the first carrier frequency can differ from the secondcarrier frequency. The system can be mounted to a first utility pole andthe network element can be mounted to a second utility pole.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 20H, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 20I, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2070, is shown. Method 2070 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19.Step 2071 includes receiving, by a network element of a distributedantenna system, a clock signal, a control channel and a first modulatedsignal at a first carrier frequency, the first modulated signalincluding first communications data provided by a base station anddirected to a mobile communication device, wherein the clock signalsynchronizes timing of digital control channel processing by the networkelement to recover instructions from the control channel, wherein theinstructions in the control channel direct the network element of thedistributed antenna system to convert the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in a firstspectral segment. Step 2072 includes converting, by the network element,the first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment in accordance with theinstructions and based on a signal processing of the first modulatedsignal. Step 2073 includes wirelessly transmitting, by the networkelement, the first modulated signal at the first spectral segment to themobile communication device. In various embodiments, the instructionsare received as digital data via the control channel.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 20I, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 20J, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2075, is shown. Method 2075 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19.Step 2076 includes receiving, by a system including circuitry, a firstmodulated signal in a first spectral segment directed to a mobilecommunication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to asignaling protocol. Step 2077 includes converting, by the system, thefirst modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the firstmodulated signal at a first carrier frequency based on a signalprocessing of the first modulated signal and without modifying thesignaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the firstcarrier frequency is outside the first spectral segment. Step 2078includes transmitting, by the system, instructions in an ultra-widebandcontrol channel to direct a network element of the distributed antennasystem to convert the first modulated signal at the first carrierfrequency to the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment.Step 2059 includes transmitting, by the system, a reference signal withthe first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the networkelement of a distributed antenna system, the reference signal enablingthe network element to reduce a phase error when reconverting the firstmodulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulatedsignal in the first spectral segment for wireless distribution of thefirst modulated signal to the mobile communication device in the firstspectral segment.

In various embodiments, wherein the first reference signal istransmitted at an in-band frequency relative to the ultra-widebandcontrol channel. The method can further include receiving, via theultra-wideband control channel from the network element of a distributedantenna system, control channel data that includes include: statusinformation that indicates network status of the network element,network device information that indicates device information of thenetwork element or an environmental measurement indicating anenvironmental condition in proximity to the network element. Theinstructions can further include a channel spacing, a guard bandparameter, an uplink/downlink allocation, or an uplink channelselection.

The first modulated signal can be generated by modulating signals in aplurality of frequency channels according to the signaling protocol togenerate the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment. Thesignaling protocol can comprise a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wirelessprotocol or a fifth generation cellular communications protocol.

The converting by the system can comprises up-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency or down-converting the firstmodulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency. The converting by the networkelement can comprise down-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment or up-converting the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment.

The method can further include receiving, by the system, a secondmodulated signal at a second carrier frequency from the network element,wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulatedsignal in a second spectral segment, and wherein the network elementconverts the second modulated signal in the second spectral segment tothe second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency andtransmits the second modulated signal at the second carrier frequency.The method can further include converting, by the system, the secondmodulated signal at the second carrier frequency to the second modulatedsignal in the second spectral segment; and sending, by the system, thesecond modulated signal in the second spectral segment to a base stationfor processing.

The second spectral segment can differ from the first spectral segment,and wherein the first carrier frequency can differ from the secondcarrier frequency. The system can be mounted to a first utility pole andthe network element can be mounted to a second utility pole.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 20J, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 20K, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2080, is shown. Method 2080 can be used with oneor more functions and features presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19.Step 2081 includes receiving, by a network element of a distributedantenna system, a reference signal, an ultra-wideband control channeland a first modulated signal at a first carrier frequency, the firstmodulated signal including first communications data provided by a basestation and directed to a mobile communication device, whereininstructions in the ultra-wideband control channel direct the networkelement of the distributed antenna system to convert the first modulatedsignal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in afirst spectral segment, and wherein the reference signal is received atan in-band frequency relative to the control channel. Step 2082 includesconverting, by the network element, the first modulated signal at thefirst carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in the firstspectral segment in accordance with the instructions and based on asignal processing of the first modulated signal and utilizing thereference signal to reduce distortion during the converting. Step 2083includes wirelessly transmitting, by the network element, the firstmodulated signal at the first spectral segment to the mobilecommunication device.

In various embodiments, wherein the first reference signal is receivedat an in-band frequency relative to the ultra-wideband control channel.The method can further include transmitting, via the ultra-widebandcontrol channel from the network element of a distributed antennasystem, control channel data that includes include: status informationthat indicates network status of the network element, network deviceinformation that indicates device information of the network element oran environmental measurement indicating an environmental condition inproximity to the network element. The instructions can further include achannel spacing, a guard band parameter, an uplink/downlink allocation,or an uplink channel selection.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 20K, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 21A, a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingembodiment of a method 2100 in accordance with various aspects is shown.FIGS. 21B and 21C depict a distributed antenna system with five antennasystems of the distributed antenna system illustrated by symbols N1through N5. Each of the antenna systems of the distributed antennasystem shown in FIGS. 21B-21C can be implemented and can function inwhole or in part according to any of the embodiments described in thesubject disclosure (see FIGS. 1 through 20K and correspondingdescriptions). The first antenna system (N1) can be wirelessly coupledto a central communication node noted by the symbol (C), which can becoupled to a communication network (e.g., a backbone landline and/orcellular communications network, the Internet, or combinations thereof).The central communication node (C) can perform similar functions tocommunication node 1804A described earlier in relation to FIG. 18A. Eachof FIGS. 21B and 21C illustrates the antenna systems of the distributedantenna system in sequential or linear order. Other networkconfigurations, however, are possible (e.g., star topology, zig-zagtopology, spoke and hub topology, architectures where antenna systemscommunicate with more than one antenna system at a time, and so on).Accordingly, the architecture shown in FIGS. 21B and 21C is only forillustration purposes. Additionally, FIGS. 21B and 21C also showmultiple instances of the distributed antenna system. The secondinstance with an “X” shown on certain antenna systems and wirelesscommunication links illustrates how method 2100 can be applied tomitigate an antenna system that has malfunctioned.

With this in mind, we turn to step 2104 of method 2100, where a firstantenna system (N1) of the distributed antenna system can be configuredto receive a first wireless signal 2124 from a second antenna system(N2) of the distributed antenna system. Similarly, at step 2106 thefirst antenna system (N1) can be configured to receive a second wirelesssignal 2122 from a second antenna system (N2) of the distributed antennasystem. Note the second wireless signal 2122 represents an extension ofthe wireless signal 2126 which originated from the third antenna system(N3) while in communications with the second antenna system (N2). Atstep 2108, the first antenna system can be configured to compare aperformance measurement such as a signal strength (e.g., a receivesignal strength indication or RSSI), signal to noise ratio, signal tonoise and interference ratio, data error rate, packet loss rate,retransmission rate or other performance measurements of the firstwireless signal 2124 and a performance measurement of the secondwireless signal 2122. When the second antenna system (N2) and the thirdantenna system (N3) are operating properly, it is expected that the RSSImeasurement or other performance measurements of the first wirelesssignal 2124 would exceed the performance measurement of the secondwireless signal 2122, because the distance from the third antenna system(N3) to the first antenna system (N1) exceeds the distance from thesecond antenna system (N2) to the first antenna system (N1).

Consequently, when the first antenna system (N1) detects at step 2108that the performance measurement of the first wireless signal 2124exceeds or otherwise compares favorably to the performance measurementof the second wireless signal 2122, the first antenna system (N1)proceeds to step 2102 wherein the first antenna system (N1) maintainscommunications with the second antenna system (N2) as depicted by thebidirectional communication link 2124. In other embodiments, thecomparison at step 2108 can be performed according to thresholds. Forexample, at a given distance (or range of distances) between the firstantenna system (N1) and the second antenna system (N2), a systemsengineer can calculate an expected minimum RSSI measurement or otherperformance measurements for the first wireless signal 2124 generated bythe second antenna system (N2). The expected minimum RSSI measurement orother performance measurements can be used as a threshold to determineif an actual RSSI measurement or other performance measurements of thefirst wireless signal 2124 generated by the second antenna system (N2)is at or above the expected minimum RSSI measurement for otherperformance measurements or the first wireless signal 2124.

Similarly, at a given distance (or range of distances) between the firstantenna system (N1) and the third antenna system (N3), a systemsengineer can calculate an expected minimum RSSI measurement or otherperformance measurements for the second wireless signal 2122 generatedby the third antenna system (N3). The expected minimum RSSI measurementor other performance measurements can be used as a threshold todetermine if an actual RSSI measurement or other performancemeasurements of the second wireless signal 2122 generated by the thirdantenna system (N3) is at or above the expected minimum RSSI measurementor other performance measurements for the second wireless signal 2122.Since the third antenna system (N3) is farther away from the firstantenna system (N1) than the second antenna system (N2), the expectedminimum RSSI measurement or other performance measurements for the firstwireless signal 2124 should exceed or otherwise compare favorably to theexpected minimum RSSI measurement for the second wireless signal 2122under normal operations.

Referring back to step 2108, when the RSSI measurement or otherperformance measurements of the first wireless signal 2124 is eitherbelow the threshold (e.g., the expected minimum RSSI measurement orother performance measurements), or is below or otherwise comparesunfavorably to the RSSI measurement or other performance measurements ofthe second wireless signal 2122, the first antenna system (N1) can beconfigured to detect a fault in the second antenna system (N2).Responsive to the detection, the first antenna system (N1) can beconfigured to proceed to step 2110 where the first antenna system (N1)adjusts a wireless transmission to bypass the second antenna system (N2)and direct the adjusted wireless transmission to the third antennasystem (N3) for processing. In one embodiment, the adjustment performedby the first antenna system (N1) can correspond to an increase in apower level of the wireless transmission that was originally directed tothe second antenna system (N2). The adjusted wireless transmission canthus have a higher power level that enables the third antenna system(N3) to receive signals reliably from the first antenna system (N1). Inother embodiments, the first antenna system (N1) can be configured tochange other operational parameters of the wireless transmission such asfrequency and phase, lower the data rate, increase the error protection,etc. In yet other embodiments, the first antenna system (N1) can beconfigured to perform beam steering adjustments and/or beam widthadjustments. It will be appreciated that the first antenna system (N1)can be configured to perform any of the foregoing adjustments to thewireless transmission to generate the adjusted wireless transmission.

In a bidirectional communication system such as shown in FIG. 21B, thethird antenna system (N3) can be configured to perform the steps ofmethod 2100 and thereby reciprocally perform the same adjustments togenerate an adjusted wireless transmission directed to the first antennasystem (N1) to bypass the second antenna system (N2). This transition isdepicted by reference numbers 2122′, 2124′ and 2126′. Links 2124′ and2126′ are dashed to represent unused wireless communication links withthe second antenna system (N2), while link 2122′ is illustrated as asolid line to represent an active wireless communication link betweenthe first and third antenna systems (N1, N3). The communication links2130 and 2132 remain active since the fourth and fifth antenna systems(N4, N5) are operating properly. In certain embodiments, if either thefirst antenna system (N1) or the third antenna system (N3) performs anadjustment of wireless transmissions before the other in order to bypassthe second antenna system (N2), the recipient antenna system (e.g., thethird antenna system (N3)) receiving the adjusted wireless transmissioncan be configured to extract a message included in the adjusted wirelesstransmission that indicates that a fault has been detected in the secondantenna system (N2). In this embodiment, the recipient antenna system(e.g., the third antenna system (N3)) receiving the adjusted wirelesstransmission can transition to step 2110 without performing thethreshold or performance comparisons referred to earlier at step 2108.

Method 2100 enables antenna systems in a distributed antenna system todetect faults in an intermediate antenna system node, and therebyundertake mitigation steps to bypass the intermediate antenna systemnode until the detected fault is corrected by field personnel, remotediagnostics, or combinations thereof. To restore operations after afault has been corrected, the first and second antenna systems (N1, N3)that performed the bypass at step 2110, can periodically monitor RSSImeasurements or other performance measurements from the second antennasystem (N2) that experienced the fault. If, for example, the RSSImeasurements or other performance measurements of the second antennasystem (N2) increases above or otherwise compare favorably first andsecond RSSI thresholds used by the first and second antenna systems,then either or both of the antenna systems (N1, N3) can turn toperforming reliability testing with the second antenna system (N2) todetermine its viability. Reliability testing can be performed by thefirst and second antenna systems (N1, N3) by transmitting testingsignals, test packets, performing bit error rate testing, packet errorrate testing, jitter testing, latency testing, and/or testing of otherperformance measurements, and so on.

The first and second antenna systems (N1, N3) can maintaincommunications with each other during the testing period. Once either orboth of the first and third antenna systems (N1, N3) determines that thesecond antenna system (N2) is functioning properly, the first and secondantenna systems (N1, N3) can be configured to exchange messages toidentify a transition strategy for restoring communications with thesecond antenna system (N2). The transition strategy can comprise ahandoff of communications to the second antenna system (N2) by restoringthe power level (and/or other operational parameters) of the wirelesstransmissions originally directed to the second antenna system (N2).

Method 2100 can also be used when more than one intermediate antennasystem experiences an operational fault as illustrated in FIG. 21C. Inthis illustration the second and third antenna systems (N2, N3)experience a fault. The first antenna system (N1) can determine that thesecond antenna system (N2) is experiencing a fault when the RSSImeasurement of the second antenna system (N2) falls below a first RSSIthreshold used to analyze the second antenna system (N2). In oneembodiment, the first antenna system (N1) can also determine that thethird antenna system (N3) is experiencing a fault when the RSSImeasurement of the third antenna system (N3) falls below second RSSIthreshold used to analyze the third antenna system (N3). Under thesecircumstances, the first antenna system (N1) can adjust its wirelesstransmissions and generate adjusted wireless transmissions 2134′ thatenable the fourth antenna system (N4) to communicate with the firstantenna system (N1). Upon receiving the adjusted wireless transmissionsof the first antenna system (N1) with a message indicating that thesecond and third antenna systems (N2, N3) are experiencing a fault, thefourth antenna system (N4) can adjust its wireless transmissions toenable communications with the first antenna system (N1). Alternatively,the fourth antenna system (N4) can perform similar operations to thosedescribed for the first antenna system (N1) and adjust its wirelesstransmissions thereafter.

As noted earlier, method 2100 can be used in whole or in part incombination with any of the embodiments of the subject disclosure. It isfurther noted that the wireless signals exchanged between the antennasystems can include modulated signals that have been frequency-shiftedfrom one or more cellular bands (and/or native bands) to a certaincarrier frequency without modifying the signaling protocol(s) used togenerate the modulated signals. It is further noted that thefrequency-shifting can in some instances correspond to frequencyup-conversion, and in other instances to frequency down-conversion.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 21A, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Turning now to FIGS. 21D-21E, flow diagrams of example, non-limitingembodiments of methods 2150 and 2170 for detecting various forms of anoperational fault in one or more communication nodes of a distributedcommunication system shown in FIG. 21F are illustrated. FIG. 21F showsfive communication nodes (N1-N5) communicatively coupled to a centralcommunication node (C). In one embodiment, the communication nodes (Cand N1-N5) can exchange wireless signals over a wireless interface. Inanother embodiment, the communication nodes (C and N1-N5) can exchangeelectromagnetic waves over an outer surface of a physical transmissionmedium (e.g., an insulated or bare conductor) interconnecting thecommunication nodes. In other embodiments, the communication nodes (Cand N1-N5) can communicate over a wireless interface in combination withthe physical transmission medium. Several of these embodiments aredescribed in the subject disclosure such as in FIGS. 18A-18B and otherrelated figures.

In one embodiment, each communication node can comprise an antennasystem. In this configuration, the plurality of communication nodes (Cand N1-N5) can represent a distributed antenna system such as previouslydescribed in the subject disclosure. In another embodiment, eachcommunication node can comprise a waveguide system capable oftransmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves that propagate along aphysical transmission medium (e.g., an insulated or uninsulatedconductor). In this configuration, the plurality of communication nodes(C and N1-N5) can represent a distributed waveguide communicationsystem. In yet other embodiments, each communication node can compriseboth an antenna system and a waveguide system. In this configuration,the plurality of communication nodes (C and N1-N5) can represent acombination of a distributed antenna system and a distributed waveguidecommunication system. Communication links 2182, 2184, 2186, 2188, and2190 represent wireless and/or physical communication interfaces forexchanging wireless signals and/or electromagnetic waves over a physicaltransmission medium.

With the possible configurations of FIG. 21F in mind, method 2150 canbegin at step 2152 where the central communication node (C) can beconfigured to submit a test signal such as a pulse directed to aplurality of communication nodes for retransmission. The test signal canbe a wireless test signal and/or an electromagnetic wave test signalthat propagates along a transmission medium associated with link 2182interconnecting the central communication node (C) to the firstcommunication node (N1). Upon receiving the test signal, the firstcommunication node (N1) retransmits the test signal to a secondcommunication node (N2). The retransmitted test signal can be anotherwireless test signal and/or another electromagnetic wave test signalthat propagates along a transmission medium associated with link 2184interconnecting the first communication node (N1) to the secondcommunication node (N2). The retransmission process can continue in thesame manner for the remaining communication nodes (N2-N5), with theretransmissions representing wireless test signals and/orelectromagnetic wave test signals that propagate along a physicaltransmission medium interconnecting communication nodes (N2-N5) at links2186-2190, respectively. The resulting retransmission is depicted as atrain of test signals (e.g., pulses) 2192. Each communication node(N1-N5) can be configured to retransmit the test signal in a downstreamdirection (left-to-right) at certain time intervals that are known tothe central communication node.

In addition to retransmitting the test signal to downstreamcommunication nodes as depicted by the train of test signals 2192, eachcommunication node can be configured to retransmit the test signal tothe communication node that supplied the test signal downstream. Forexample, upon receiving the test signal from the central communicationnode (C), the first communication node (N1) can retransmit the testsignal back to the central communication node (C). Similarly, uponreceiving the retransmitted test signal from the first communicationnode (N1), the second communication node (N2) can retransmit the testsignal back to the first communication node (N1), and the firstcommunication node (N1) can retransmit the test signal it receives fromthe second communication node (N1) back to the central communicationnode (C). The retransmission of the test signal towards the centralcommunication node (C) continues in a similar manner for the othercommunication nodes (N2-N5). Similar to the downstream transmissions,each communication node (N1-N5) can be configured to retransmit the testsignal in an upstream direction (right-to-left) at certain timeintervals that are known to the central communication node (C).Additionally, the retransmitted test signals that are sent upstream canbe wireless test signals and/or electromagnetic wave test signals thatpropagate along a physical transmission medium interconnecting thecommunication nodes (C1 through N5). The retransmitted test signaldirected to the central communication node (C) result in a train ofupstream test signals (e.g., pulses) 2194 as shown in FIG. 21F.

By knowing the approximate time when retransmissions will occur in adownstream direction as well as an upstream direction, the centralcommunication node (C) can predict an expected roundtrip delay for eachcommunication node. Certainly, the first communication node (N1) willhave the smallest roundtrip delay followed by the second communicationnode (N2), and so on. The expected roundtrip delay of a retransmittedtest signal supplied by each communication node can be used to identifya location in time for a number of timeslots, each having an interval,for which each test signal is expected. Each time slot is assigned to adifferent communication node. The closest timeslot is assigned to thefirst communication node (N1), while the timeslot farthest in time isassigned to the fifth communication node (N5).

Knowing when a test signal will be returned by any one communicationnode enables the central communication node (C) to perform anoperational test on each communication node. In certain embodiment, thetest signal can be simplified to minimize the use of communicationresources and bandwidth of each communication node. For example, thetest signal can be an analog pulse that does not convey data. In otherembodiments, the test signal can be configured as a pulse modulated withinformation to convey data such as a timestamp when the pulse was sentby the central communication node (C), and a timestamp when thecommunication node retransmitted the test pulse downstream to anothercommunication node and/or another timestamp when the communication nodethat is target by the central communication node (C) retransmits thetest signal upstream towards the central communication node.Additionally, the test signal can be configured to includeidentification information of each communication node that retransmittedthe test signal, and/or identification information associated with thecommunication node which the test signal is targeted to.

Upon receiving the train of test signals at step 2154, in oneembodiment, the central communication node (C), can be configured todetermine if an expected returned test signal is received in at anexpected time slot. If all timeslots have returned test signals, thenthe central communication node (C) can coarsely assume that there is noapparent operation fault in communication nodes (N1-N5) and can therebycontinue monitor these nodes by repeating steps 2152-2156. If, on theother hand, a test signal is not detected in one of the expectedtimeslots, then the central communication node (C) can proceed to step2158 to determine which of the timeslots is the affected timeslot. Asnoted earlier, each timeslot is associated with a differentcommunication node. Accordingly, when a test signal is missing, thecentral communication node (C) can identify the affected communicationnode based on its assigned timeslot and thereby generate an alert atstep 2160. The alert can be directed to a network to inform a centralsystem such as the network management system 1601 of FIG. 16B. The alertcan indicate which communication node is affected, and whether themissing test signal is a wireless test signal and/or an electromagneticwave test signal.

In embodiments where each communication node is capable of transmittingwireless and electromagnetic wave signals, the central communicationnode (C) can be configured to transmit two test signals, a wireless testsignal and an electromagnetic test signal, which results in two trainsof test signals 2192 directed to downstream communication nodes. On thereturn path, the central communication node (C) can be configured toreceive two trains of test signals 2194, one train of wireless returnedtest signals, and another train of returned electromagnetic wave testsignals. In these embodiments, the central communication node (C) maydetect a missing test signal from one train and not another, or fromboth. For example, the central communication node (C) may detect amissing wireless returned test signal in the timeslot associated withthe third communication node (N3), while receiving the expected returnedelectromagnetic wave test signal from the third communication node (N3)in the same timeslot. This scenario can indicate to the centralcommunication node (C) that the third communication node (N3) isexperiencing a partial operational fault, whereby the thirdcommunication node (N3) is able to provide partial communicationservices to other nodes in the distributed communication network via thewaveguide system, but not through its antenna system. At step 2160, thecentral communication system (C) can convey information in the alertmessage indicating this partial operational fault to network managementsystem 1601 of FIG. 16B.

In other embodiments, where the test signals can be configured withtimestamps and/or identification information from the retransmittingcommunication node(s), the central communication node (C) can beconfigured at step 2158 to detect a missing returned test signal asdescribed before. In other scenarios, the central communication node (C)may detect that the returned test signal has been received from theexpected communication node based on identifying information included inthe returned test signal, but further determine that the returned testsignal is not in the timeslot or is misaligned at least partially withthe timeslot, which may indicate operational issues with thecommunication node, such as, for example, a communication node that maybe running out of computing resources due to excessive traffic, a faultyreference clock signal, or other malfunction. As before, the returnedtest signal can be a wireless returned test signal and/or a returnedelectromagnetic wave test signal. For either type of returned testsignal, the central communication node (C) can report via the alertmessage the misaligned returned test signal to the network managementsystem 1601 of FIG. 16B.

In yet other embodiments, the communication nodes (N1-N5) can beconfigured to bypass a detected operational fault in a neighboringcommunication node. For example, suppose that the first communicationnode (N1) retransmits downstream the test signal it receives from thecentral communication node (C) to the second communication node (N2),but the second communication node (N2) does not retransmit the testsignal upstream back to the first communication node (N1) as expected.In this instance, the first communication node (N1) can detect anoperational fault in the second communication node (N2). Responsive tothis detection, the first communication node (N1) can transmit a bypasssignal (e.g., a wireless message) directed to the third communicationnode (N3). To reach the third communication node (N3), the firstcommunication node (N1) can adjust its communication settings (e.g.,increase output power or otherwise) to reach the third communicationnode (N3) via the bypass signal. The bypass signal can inform the thirdcommunication node (N3) that the first communication node (N1) hasdetected an operational fault in the second communication node (N2),which prompts the third communication node (N3) to reconfigure itself tocommunicate wirelessly with the first communication node (N1), andthereby also bypass the second communication node (N2).

This illustration can also be applied upstream. That is, the thirdcommunication node (N3) can detect that it has not received aretransmitted test signal from the second communication node (N2) at anexpected time and consequently determine that the second communicationnode (N2) is experiencing an operation fault. The third communicationnode (N3) can then perform the same steps as described earlier for thefirst communication node (N1) and transmit a bypass wireless signaldirected to the first communication node (N1) to inform it that thesecond communication node (N2) is experiencing an operational fault.Thereafter, the first communication node (N1) can reconfigure itself tocommunicate wirelessly with the third communication node (N3) in abypass configuration. This bypass configuration enables the unaffectedcommunication nodes (N3-N5) to continue to receive test signalsdownstream and transmit returned test signals upstream. Accordingly, thebypass configuration enables the train of upstream signals to bereceived by the central communication node (C) from the unaffectedcommunication nodes. Since the second communication node (N2) is notreturning a test signal, the central communication node (C) can isolatethe operational fault to the second communication node (N2), whiledetermining that the other communication nodes (N1 and N3-N5) are stillfunctional.

In yet other embodiments, the communication nodes (N1-N5) can beconfigured to test for signal degradation, by comparing a received testsignal to an expected signal profile as described by the method 2170 ofFIG. 21E. Method 2170 can begin with the central communication node (C)submitting a test signal to the first communication node (N1) whichrelays the test signal downstream through a series for retransmissionsthat results in the train of test signals 2192 described earlier. Aseach communication node receives the retransmitted test signal (upstreamor downstream), the recipient communication node compares it at step2174 to an expected signal profile. This comparison can be performed inthe frequency and/or time domain. If the comparison is determined atstep 2176 not to be a reasonable or expected match, indicative ofpossible signal degradation, then the recipient communication node cansubmit at step 2178 an alert message directed to the centralcommunication node (C) at step 2180. The alert message can be includedin a returned test signal that can convey data such as timestamp(s),identification information, or other data determined by the comparison.Alternatively, a separate alert message can be transmitted in a controlchannel of the distributed communication system by the recipientcommunication node. In either embodiment, the alert message can includespectral information, time domain information, or other parametric datadetermined from the comparison. The alert message can be conveyed to aprocessing system such as the network management system 1601 foranalyzing the information supplied by the recipient communication node.If the recipient communication node fails to receive a test signal froma neighboring communication node, or a test signal that is receivedindicates a severe degradation in signal quality, then the recipientcommunication node can resort to using the wireless bypass configurationpreviously described.

It will be appreciated that methods 2150 and 2170 can be combined inwhole or in part, in any combination, to monitor and thereby detect anoperational fault with one or more communication nodes. It will befurther appreciated that methods 2150 and 2170 singly or in anycombination can be performed by any of the communication nodes (N1-N5)and not just the central communication node (C). It is furtherappreciated that the illustration of FIG. 21F is a non-limitingillustration of a network configuration. For example, methods 2150 and2170 singly or in any combination can be performed by other networkconfigurations such as a mesh network, a star configuration, a hub andspoke configuration, or other suitable network configurations. It isfurther appreciated that the embodiments of methods 2150 and 2170 can becombined singly or in any combination, in whole or in part, with otherembodiments and/or methods of the subject disclosure.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIGS.21D-21E, it is to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subjectmatter is not limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks mayoccur in different orders and/or concurrently with other blocks fromwhat is depicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustratedblocks may be required to implement the methods described herein.

Referring now to FIG. 22, there is illustrated a block diagram of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein. In order to provide additional context for various embodimentsof the embodiments described herein, FIG. 22 and the followingdiscussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of asuitable computing environment 2200 in which the various embodiments ofthe subject disclosure can be implemented. While the embodiments havebeen described above in the general context of computer-executableinstructions that can run on one or more computers, those skilled in theart will recognize that the embodiments can be also implemented incombination with other program modules and/or as a combination ofhardware and software.

Generally, program modules comprise routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the inventive methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, comprising single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

As used herein, a processing circuit includes processor as well as otherapplication specific circuits such as an application specific integratedcircuit, digital logic circuit, state machine, programmable gate arrayor other circuits that process input signals or data and that producesoutput signals or data in response thereto. It should be noted thatwhile any functions and features described herein in association withthe operation of a processor could likewise be performed by a processingcircuit.

The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, as used in theclaims, unless otherwise clear by context, is for clarity only anddoesn't otherwise indicate or imply any order in time. For instance, “afirst determination,” “a second determination,” and “a thirddetermination,” does not indicate or imply that the first determinationis to be made before the second determination, or vice versa, etc.

The illustrated embodiments of the embodiments herein can be alsopracticed in distributed computing environments where certain tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Computing devices typically comprise a variety of media, which cancomprise computer-readable storage media and/or communications media,which two terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and comprises both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structured dataor unstructured data.

Computer-readable storage media can comprise, but are not limited to,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technologies, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devicesor other tangible and/or non-transitory media which can be used to storedesired information. In this regard, the terms “tangible” or“non-transitory” herein as applied to storage, memory orcomputer-readable media, are to be understood to exclude onlypropagating transitory signals per se as modifiers and do not relinquishrights to all standard storage, memory or computer-readable media thatare not only propagating transitory signals per se.

Computer-readable storage media can be accessed by one or more local orremote computing devices, e.g., via access requests, queries or otherdata retrieval protocols, for a variety of operations with respect tothe information stored by the medium.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrierwave or other transport mechanisms, and comprises any informationdelivery or transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signalsrefers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set orchanged in such a manner as to encode information in one or moresignals. By way of example, and not limitation, communication mediacomprise wired media, such as a wired network or direct-wiredconnection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and otherwireless media.

With reference again to FIG. 22, the example environment 2200 fortransmitting and receiving signals via or forming at least part of abase station (e.g., base station devices 1504, macrocell site 1502, orbase stations 1614) or central office (e.g., central office 1501 or1611). At least a portion of the example environment 2200 can also beused for transmission devices 101 or 102. The example environment cancomprise a computer 2202, the computer 2202 comprising a processing unit2204, a system memory 2206 and a system bus 2208. The system bus 2208couples system components including, but not limited to, the systemmemory 2206 to the processing unit 2204. The processing unit 2204 can beany of various commercially available processors. Dual microprocessorsand other multiprocessor architectures can also be employed as theprocessing unit 2204.

The system bus 2208 can be any of several types of bus structure thatcan further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 2206comprises ROM 2210 and RAM 2212. A basic input/output system (BIOS) canbe stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routinesthat help to transfer information between elements within the computer2202, such as during startup. The RAM 2212 can also comprise ahigh-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 2202 further comprises an internal hard disk drive (HDD)2214 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal hard disk drive 2214 can also beconfigured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown), amagnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 2216, (e.g., to read from or write to aremovable diskette 2218) and an optical disk drive 2220, (e.g., readinga CD-ROM disk 2222 or, to read from or write to other high capacityoptical media such as the DVD). The hard disk drive 2214, magnetic diskdrive 2216 and optical disk drive 2220 can be connected to the systembus 2208 by a hard disk drive interface 2224, a magnetic disk driveinterface 2226 and an optical drive interface 2228, respectively. Theinterface 2224 for external drive implementations comprises at least oneor both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface technologies. Other externaldrive connection technologies are within contemplation of theembodiments described herein.

The drives and their associated computer-readable storage media providenonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For the computer 2202, the drives andstorage media accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digitalformat. Although the description of computer-readable storage mediaabove refers to a hard disk drive (HDD), a removable magnetic diskette,and a removable optical media such as a CD or DVD, it should beappreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of storagemedia which are readable by a computer, such as zip drives, magneticcassettes, flash memory cards, cartridges, and the like, can also beused in the example operating environment, and further, that any suchstorage media can contain computer-executable instructions forperforming the methods described herein.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 2212,comprising an operating system 2230, one or more application programs2232, other program modules 2234 and program data 2236. All or portionsof the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 2212. The systems and methods described herein can beimplemented utilizing various commercially available operating systemsor combinations of operating systems. Examples of application programs2232 that can be implemented and otherwise executed by processing unit2204 include the diversity selection determining performed bytransmission device 101 or 102.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 2202 throughone or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard 2238 and apointing device, such as a mouse 2240. Other input devices (not shown)can comprise a microphone, an infrared (IR) remote control, a joystick,a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen or the like. These and otherinput devices are often connected to the processing unit 2204 through aninput device interface 2242 that can be coupled to the system bus 2208,but can be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, anIEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a universal serial bus (USB) port,an IR interface, etc.

A monitor 2244 or other types of display device can be also connected tothe system bus 2208 via an interface, such as a video adapter 2246. Itwill also be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, a monitor 2244can also be any display device (e.g., another computer having a display,a smart phone, a tablet computer, etc.) for receiving displayinformation associated with computer 2202 via any communication means,including via the Internet and cloud-based networks. In addition to themonitor 2244, a computer typically comprises other peripheral outputdevices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 2202 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 2248. The remotecomputer(s) 2248 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network nodes, and typicallycomprises many or all of the elements described relative to the computer2202, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device2250 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted comprisewired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 2252 and/orlarger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 2254. Such LAN and WANnetworking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, andfacilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all ofwhich can connect to a global communications network, e.g., theInternet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 2202 can beconnected to the local network 2252 through a wired and/or wirelesscommunication network interface or adapter 2256. The adapter 2256 canfacilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 2252, which canalso comprise a wireless AP disposed thereon for communicating with thewireless adapter 2256.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 2202 cancomprise a modem 2258 or can be connected to a communications server onthe WAN 2254 or has other means for establishing communications over theWAN 2254, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 2258, which can beinternal or external and a wired or wireless device, can be connected tothe system bus 2208 via the input device interface 2242. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 2202 orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device2250. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexample and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

The computer 2202 can be operable to communicate with any wirelessdevices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication,e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portabledata assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment orlocation associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk,news stand, restroom), and telephone. This can comprise WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) and BLUETOOTH® wireless technologies. Thus, thecommunication can be a predefined structure as with a conventionalnetwork or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

Wi-Fi can allow connection to the Internet from a couch at home, a bedin a hotel room or a conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is awireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enablessuch devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out;anywhere within the range of a base station. Wi-Fi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, n, ac, ag etc.) to providesecure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can beused to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wirednetworks (which can use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networks operatein the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands for example or with productsthat contain both bands (dual band), so the networks can providereal-world performance similar to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernetnetworks used in many offices.

FIG. 23 presents an example embodiment 2300 of a mobile network platform2310 that can implement and exploit one or more aspects of the disclosedsubject matter described herein. In one or more embodiments, the mobilenetwork platform 2310 can generate and receive signals transmitted andreceived by base stations (e.g., base station devices 1504, macrocellsite 1502, or base stations 1614), central office (e.g., central office1501 or 1611), or transmission device 101 or 102 associated with thedisclosed subject matter. Generally, wireless network platform 2310 cancomprise components, e.g., nodes, gateways, interfaces, servers, ordisparate platforms, that facilitate both packet-switched (PS) (e.g.,internet protocol (IP), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM))and circuit-switched (CS) traffic (e.g., voice and data), as well ascontrol generation for networked wireless telecommunication. As anon-limiting example, wireless network platform 2310 can be included intelecommunications carrier networks, and can be considered carrier-sidecomponents as discussed elsewhere herein. Mobile network platform 2310comprises CS gateway node(s) 2322 which can interface CS trafficreceived from legacy networks like telephony network(s) 2340 (e.g.,public switched telephone network (PSTN), or public land mobile network(PLMN)) or a signaling system #7 (SS7) network 2370. Circuit switchedgateway node(s) 2322 can authorize and authenticate traffic (e.g.,voice) arising from such networks. Additionally, CS gateway node(s) 2322can access mobility, or roaming, data generated through SS7 network2370; for instance, mobility data stored in a visited location register(VLR), which can reside in memory 2330. Moreover, CS gateway node(s)2322 interfaces CS-based traffic and signaling and PS gateway node(s)2318. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, CS gateway node(s) 2322 canbe realized at least in part in gateway GPRS support node(s) (GGSN). Itshould be appreciated that functionality and specific operation of CSgateway node(s) 2322, PS gateway node(s) 2318, and serving node(s) 2316,is provided and dictated by radio technology(ies) utilized by mobilenetwork platform 2310 for telecommunication.

In addition to receiving and processing CS-switched traffic andsignaling, PS gateway node(s) 2318 can authorize and authenticatePS-based data sessions with served mobile devices. Data sessions cancomprise traffic, or content(s), exchanged with networks external to thewireless network platform 2310, like wide area network(s) (WANs) 2350,enterprise network(s) 2370, and service network(s) 2380, which can beembodied in local area network(s) (LANs), can also be interfaced withmobile network platform 2310 through PS gateway node(s) 2318. It is tobe noted that WANs 2350 and enterprise network(s) 2360 can embody, atleast in part, a service network(s) like IP multimedia subsystem (IMS).Based on radio technology layer(s) available in technology resource(s)2317, packet-switched gateway node(s) 2318 can generate packet dataprotocol contexts when a data session is established; other datastructures that facilitate routing of packetized data also can begenerated. To that end, in an aspect, PS gateway node(s) 2318 cancomprise a tunnel interface (e.g., tunnel termination gateway (TTG) in3GPP UMTS network(s) (not shown)) which can facilitate packetizedcommunication with disparate wireless network(s), such as Wi-Finetworks.

In embodiment 2300, wireless network platform 2310 also comprisesserving node(s) 2316 that, based upon available radio technologylayer(s) within technology resource(s) 2317, convey the variouspacketized flows of data streams received through PS gateway node(s)2318. It is to be noted that for technology resource(s) 2317 that relyprimarily on CS communication, server node(s) can deliver trafficwithout reliance on PS gateway node(s) 2318; for example, server node(s)can embody at least in part a mobile switching center. As an example, ina 3GPP UMTS network, serving node(s) 2316 can be embodied in servingGPRS support node(s) (SGSN).

For radio technologies that exploit packetized communication, server(s)2314 in wireless network platform 2310 can execute numerous applicationsthat can generate multiple disparate packetized data streams or flows,and manage (e.g., schedule, queue, format . . . ) such flows. Suchapplication(s) can comprise add-on features to standard services (forexample, provisioning, billing, customer support . . . ) provided bywireless network platform 2310. Data streams (e.g., content(s) that arepart of a voice call or data session) can be conveyed to PS gatewaynode(s) 2318 for authorization/authentication and initiation of a datasession, and to serving node(s) 2316 for communication thereafter. Inaddition to application server, server(s) 2314 can comprise utilityserver(s), a utility server can comprise a provisioning server, anoperations and maintenance server, a security server that can implementat least in part a certificate authority and firewalls as well as othersecurity mechanisms, and the like. In an aspect, security server(s)secure communication served through wireless network platform 2310 toensure network's operation and data integrity in addition toauthorization and authentication procedures that CS gateway node(s) 2322and PS gateway node(s) 2318 can enact. Moreover, provisioning server(s)can provision services from external network(s) like networks operatedby a disparate service provider; for instance, WAN 2350 or GlobalPositioning System (GPS) network(s) (not shown). Provisioning server(s)can also provision coverage through networks associated to wirelessnetwork platform 2310 (e.g., deployed and operated by the same serviceprovider), such as the distributed antennas networks shown in FIG. 1(s)that enhance wireless service coverage by providing more networkcoverage. Repeater devices such as those shown in FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 alsoimprove network coverage in order to enhance subscriber serviceexperience by way of UE 2375.

It is to be noted that server(s) 2314 can comprise one or moreprocessors configured to confer at least in part the functionality ofmacro network platform 2310. To that end, the one or more processor canexecute code instructions stored in memory 2330, for example. It isshould be appreciated that server(s) 2314 can comprise a content manager2315, which operates in substantially the same manner as describedhereinbefore.

In example embodiment 2300, memory 2330 can store information related tooperation of wireless network platform 2310. Other operationalinformation can comprise provisioning information of mobile devicesserved through wireless platform network 2310, subscriber databases;application intelligence, pricing schemes, e.g., promotional rates,flat-rate programs, couponing campaigns; technical specification(s)consistent with telecommunication protocols for operation of disparateradio, or wireless, technology layers; and so forth. Memory 2330 canalso store information from at least one of telephony network(s) 2340,WAN 2350, enterprise network(s) 2370, or SS7 network 2360. In an aspect,memory 2330 can be, for example, accessed as part of a data storecomponent or as a remotely connected memory store.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIG. 23, and the following discussion, are intended toprovide a brief, general description of a suitable environment in whichthe various aspects of the disclosed subject matter can be implemented.While the subject matter has been described above in the general contextof computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on acomputer and/or computers, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe disclosed subject matter also can be implemented in combination withother program modules. Generally, program modules comprise routines,programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particulartasks and/or implement particular abstract data types.

FIG. 24 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication device2400. The communication device 2400 can serve as an illustrativeembodiment of devices such as mobile devices and in-building devicesreferred to by the subject disclosure (e.g., in FIGS. 15, 16A and 16B).

The communication device 2400 can comprise a wireline and/or wirelesstransceiver 2402 (herein transceiver 2402), a user interface (UI) 2404,a power supply 2414, a location receiver 2416, a motion sensor 2418, anorientation sensor 2420, and a controller 2406 for managing operationsthereof. The transceiver 2402 can support short-range or long-rangewireless access technologies such as Bluetooth®, ZigBee®, WiFi, DECT, orcellular communication technologies, just to mention a few (Bluetooth®and ZigBee® are trademarks registered by the Bluetooth® Special InterestGroup and the ZigBee® Alliance, respectively). Cellular technologies caninclude, for example, CDMA-1×, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO,WiMAX, SDR, LTE, as well as other next generation wireless communicationtechnologies as they arise. The transceiver 2402 can also be adapted tosupport circuit-switched wireline access technologies (such as PSTN),packet-switched wireline access technologies (such as TCP/IP, VoIP,etc.), and combinations thereof.

The UI 2404 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 2408with a navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, a joystick, a mouse,or a navigation disk for manipulating operations of the communicationdevice 2400. The keypad 2408 can be an integral part of a housingassembly of the communication device 2400 or an independent deviceoperably coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface (such as a USBcable) or a wireless interface supporting for example Bluetooth®. Thekeypad 2408 can represent a numeric keypad commonly used by phones,and/or a QWERTY keypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI 2404 can furtherinclude a display 2410 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid CrystalDisplay), OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable displaytechnologies for conveying images to an end user of the communicationdevice 2400. In an embodiment where the display 2410 is touch-sensitive,a portion or all of the keypad 2408 can be presented by way of thedisplay 2410 with navigation features.

The display 2410 can use touch screen technology to also serve as a userinterface for detecting user input. As a touch screen display, thecommunication device 2400 can be adapted to present a user interfacehaving graphical user interface (GUI) elements that can be selected by auser with a touch of a finger. The touch screen display 2410 can beequipped with capacitive, resistive or other forms of sensing technologyto detect how much surface area of a user's finger has been placed on aportion of the touch screen display. This sensing information can beused to control the manipulation of the GUI elements or other functionsof the user interface. The display 2410 can be an integral part of thehousing assembly of the communication device 2400 or an independentdevice communicatively coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface(such as a cable) or a wireless interface.

The UI 2404 can also include an audio system 2412 that utilizes audiotechnology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heard inproximity of a human ear) and high volume audio (such as speakerphonefor hands free operation). The audio system 2412 can further include amicrophone for receiving audible signals of an end user. The audiosystem 2412 can also be used for voice recognition applications. The UI2404 can further include an image sensor 2413 such as a charged coupleddevice (CCD) camera for capturing still or moving images.

The power supply 2414 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable and rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and/or charging system technologies for supplying energyto the components of the communication device 2400 to facilitatelong-range or short-range portable communications. Alternatively, or incombination, the charging system can utilize external power sources suchas DC power supplied over a physical interface such as a USB port orother suitable tethering technologies.

The location receiver 2416 can utilize location technology such as aglobal positioning system (GPS) receiver capable of assisted GPS foridentifying a location of the communication device 2400 based on signalsgenerated by a constellation of GPS satellites, which can be used forfacilitating location services such as navigation. The motion sensor2418 can utilize motion sensing technology such as an accelerometer, agyroscope, or other suitable motion sensing technologies to detectmotion of the communication device 2400 in three-dimensional space. Theorientation sensor 2420 can utilize orientation sensing technology suchas a magnetometer to detect the orientation of the communication device2400 (north, south, west, and east, as well as combined orientations indegrees, minutes, or other suitable orientation metrics).

The communication device 2400 can use the transceiver 2402 to alsodetermine a proximity to a cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth®, or other wirelessaccess points by sensing techniques such as utilizing a received signalstrength indicator (RSSI) and/or signal time of arrival (TOA) or time offlight (TOF) measurements. The controller 2406 can utilize computingtechnologies such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP),programmable gate arrays, application specific integrated circuits,and/or a video processor with associated storage memory such as Flash,ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologies for executingcomputer instructions, controlling, and processing data supplied by theaforementioned components of the communication device 2400.

Other components not shown in FIG. 24 can be used in one or moreembodiments of the subject disclosure. For instance, the communicationdevice 2400 can include a slot for adding or removing an identity modulesuch as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or Universal IntegratedCircuit Card (UICC). SIM or UICC cards can be used for identifyingsubscriber services, executing programs, storing subscriber data, and soon.

In the subject specification, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “datastore,” data storage,” “database,” and substantially any otherinformation storage components relevant to operation and functionalityof a component, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a“memory” or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciatedthat the memory components described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory, or can comprise both volatile andnonvolatile memory, by way of illustration, and not limitation, volatilememory, non-volatile memory, disk storage, and memory storage. Further,nonvolatile memory can be included in read only memory (ROM),programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory cancomprise random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cachememory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available inmany forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems or methodsherein are intended to comprise, without being limited to comprising,these and any other suitable types of memory.

Moreover, it will be noted that the disclosed subject matter can bepracticed with other computer system configurations, comprisingsingle-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, mini-computingdevices, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-heldcomputing devices (e.g., PDA, phone, smartphone, watch, tabletcomputers, netbook computers, etc.), microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer or industrial electronics, and the like. Theillustrated aspects can also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network; however, some if not allaspects of the subject disclosure can be practiced on stand-alonecomputers. In a distributed computing environment, program modules canbe located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Some of the embodiments described herein can also employ artificialintelligence (AI) to facilitate automating one or more featuresdescribed herein. For example, artificial intelligence can be used inoptional training controller 230 evaluate and select candidatefrequencies, modulation schemes, MIMO modes, and/or guided wave modes inorder to maximize transfer efficiency. The embodiments (e.g., inconnection with automatically identifying acquired cell sites thatprovide a maximum value/benefit after addition to an existingcommunication network) can employ various AI-based schemes for carryingout various embodiments thereof. Moreover, the classifier can beemployed to determine a ranking or priority of the each cell site of theacquired network. A classifier is a function that maps an inputattribute vector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, . . . , xn), to a confidence thatthe input belongs to a class, that is, f(x)=confidence (class). Suchclassification can employ a probabilistic and/or statistical-basedanalysis (e.g., factoring into the analysis utilities and costs) toprognose or infer an action that a user desires to be automaticallyperformed. A support vector machine (SVM) is an example of a classifierthat can be employed. The SVM operates by finding a hypersurface in thespace of possible inputs, which the hypersurface attempts to split thetriggering criteria from the non-triggering events. Intuitively, thismakes the classification correct for testing data that is near, but notidentical to training data. Other directed and undirected modelclassification approaches comprise, e.g., naïve Bayes, Bayesiannetworks, decision trees, neural networks, fuzzy logic models, andprobabilistic classification models providing different patterns ofindependence can be employed. Classification as used herein also isinclusive of statistical regression that is utilized to develop modelsof priority.

As will be readily appreciated, one or more of the embodiments canemploy classifiers that are explicitly trained (e.g., via a generictraining data) as well as implicitly trained (e.g., via observing UEbehavior, operator preferences, historical information, receivingextrinsic information). For example, SVMs can be configured via alearning or training phase within a classifier constructor and featureselection module. Thus, the classifier(s) can be used to automaticallylearn and perform a number of functions, including but not limited todetermining according to a predetermined criteria which of the acquiredcell sites will benefit a maximum number of subscribers and/or which ofthe acquired cell sites will add minimum value to the existingcommunication network coverage, etc.

As used in some contexts in this application, in some embodiments, theterms “component,” “system” and the like are intended to refer to, orcomprise, a computer-related entity or an entity related to anoperational apparatus with one or more specific functionalities, whereinthe entity can be either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. As an example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,computer-executable instructions, a program, and/or a computer. By wayof illustration and not limitation, both an application running on aserver and the server can be a component. One or more components mayreside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component maybe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. In addition, these components can execute from variouscomputer readable media having various data structures stored thereon.The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such asin accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., datafrom one component interacting with another component in a local system,distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet withother systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be anapparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical partsoperated by electric or electronic circuitry, which is operated by asoftware or firmware application executed by a processor, wherein theprocessor can be internal or external to the apparatus and executes atleast a part of the software or firmware application. As yet anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus that provides specificfunctionality through electronic components without mechanical parts,the electronic components can comprise a processor therein to executesoftware or firmware that confers at least in part the functionality ofthe electronic components. While various components have beenillustrated as separate components, it will be appreciated that multiplecomponents can be implemented as a single component, or a singlecomponent can be implemented as multiple components, without departingfrom example embodiments.

Further, the various embodiments can be implemented as a method,apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device or computer-readable storage/communicationsmedia. For example, computer readable storage media can include, but arenot limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk,magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digitalversatile disk (DVD)), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g.,card, stick, key drive). Of course, those skilled in the art willrecognize many modifications can be made to this configuration withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the various embodiments.

In addition, the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an instance or illustration. Any embodiment or designdescribed herein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments ordesigns. Rather, use of the word example or exemplary is intended topresent concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, theterm “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive“or”. That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “Xemploys A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusivepermutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both Aand B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoinginstances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication and the appended claims should generally be construed tomean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context tobe directed to a singular form.

Moreover, terms such as “user equipment,” “mobile station,” “mobile,”subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “handset,” “mobiledevice” (and/or terms representing similar terminology) can refer to awireless device utilized by a subscriber or user of a wirelesscommunication service to receive or convey data, control, voice, video,sound, gaming or substantially any data-stream or signaling-stream. Theforegoing terms are utilized interchangeably herein and with referenceto the related drawings.

Furthermore, the terms “user,” “subscriber,” “customer,” “consumer” andthe like are employed interchangeably throughout, unless contextwarrants particular distinctions among the terms. It should beappreciated that such terms can refer to human entities or automatedcomponents supported through artificial intelligence (e.g., a capacityto make inference based, at least, on complex mathematical formalisms),which can provide simulated vision, sound recognition and so forth.

As employed herein, the term “processor” can refer to substantially anycomputing processing unit or device comprising, but not limited tocomprising, single-core processors; single-processors with softwaremultithread execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-coreprocessors with software multithread execution capability; multi-coreprocessors with hardware multithread technology; parallel platforms; andparallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, aprocessor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), acomplex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistorlogic, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designedto perform the functions described herein. Processors can exploitnano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular andquantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimizespace usage or enhance performance of user equipment. A processor canalso be implemented as a combination of computing processing units.

As used herein, terms such as “data storage,” data storage,” “database,”and substantially any other information storage component relevant tooperation and functionality of a component, refer to “memorycomponents,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components comprisingthe memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components orcomputer-readable storage media, described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory.

What has been described above includes mere examples of variousembodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing these examples, but one of ordinary skill in the art canrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the presentembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed and/orclaimed herein are intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes”is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term isintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as“comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in aclaim.

In addition, a flow diagram may include a “start” and/or “continue”indication. The “start” and “continue” indications reflect that thesteps presented can optionally be incorporated in or otherwise used inconjunction with other routines. In this context, “start” indicates thebeginning of the first step presented and may be preceded by otheractivities not specifically shown. Further, the “continue” indicationreflects that the steps presented may be performed multiple times and/ormay be succeeded by other activities not specifically shown. Further,while a flow diagram indicates a particular ordering of steps, otherorderings are likewise possible provided that the principles ofcausality are maintained.

As may also be used herein, the term(s) “operably coupled to”, “coupledto”, and/or “coupling” includes direct coupling between items and/orindirect coupling between items via one or more intervening items. Suchitems and intervening items include, but are not limited to, junctions,communication paths, components, circuit elements, circuits, functionalblocks, and/or devices. As an example of indirect coupling, a signalconveyed from a first item to a second item may be modified by one ormore intervening items by modifying the form, nature or format ofinformation in a signal, while one or more elements of the informationin the signal are nevertheless conveyed in a manner than can berecognized by the second item. In a further example of indirectcoupling, an action in a first item can cause a reaction on the seconditem, as a result of actions and/or reactions in one or more interveningitems.

As may be used herein, the term “compares favorably”, indicates that acomparison between two or more items, signals, etc., provides a desiredrelationship. For example, when the desired relationship is that signal1 has a greater magnitude than signal 2, a favorable comparison may beachieved when the magnitude of signal 1 is greater than that of signal 2or when the magnitude of signal 2 is less than that of signal 1. Incontrast, the term “compares unfavorably”, indicates that a comparisonbetween two or more items, signals, etc., provides an undesiredrelationship. For example, when the desired relationship is that signal1 has a greater magnitude than signal 2, an unfavorable comparison maybe achieved when the magnitude of signal 1 is less than that of signal 2or when the magnitude of signal 2 is greater than that of signal 1.Other ways to compare signals or ranges thereof (e.g., phase, frequency,jitter, latency, error rates, etc.) to distinguish from a favorableversus unfavorable result is contemplated by the subject disclosure.Additionally, the terms “compares favorably” and “compares unfavorably”can be applied to a comparison of objects, temporal events, data, or anyother subject matters that can be compared to distinguish from afavorable versus unfavorable result.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement which achieves thesame or similar purpose may be substituted for the embodiments describedor shown by the subject disclosure. The subject disclosure is intendedto cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, can be used in the subject disclosure.For instance, one or more features from one or more embodiments can becombined with one or more features of one or more other embodiments. Inone or more embodiments, features that are positively recited can alsobe negatively recited and excluded from the embodiment with or withoutreplacement by another structural and/or functional feature. The stepsor functions described with respect to the embodiments of the subjectdisclosure can be performed in any order. The steps or functionsdescribed with respect to the embodiments of the subject disclosure canbe performed alone or in combination with other steps or functions ofthe subject disclosure, as well as from other embodiments or from othersteps that have not been described in the subject disclosure. Further,more than or less than all of the features described with respect to anembodiment can also be utilized.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: transmitting, by a firstantenna system of a distributed antenna system, a source wireless testsignal directed to a second antenna system of the distributed antennasystem for a sequential retransmission of the source wireless testsignal by the second antenna system and a plurality of other antennasystems of the distributed antenna system; receiving, by the firstantenna system, a plurality of returned messages from the second antennasystem, wherein each of the plurality of returned messages includesinformation associated with a signal test performed by the secondantenna system and at least one of the plurality of other antennasystems, wherein the signal test comprises a comparison of aretransmission of the source wireless test signal and an expected signalprofile of the source wireless test signal; and determining, by thefirst antenna system, from the plurality of returned messages whetherany one of the plurality of other antenna systems is experiencing anoperational fault.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising,responsive to the determining, identifying a third antenna system of theplurality of other antenna systems experiencing the operational fault.3. The method of claim 2, wherein the identifying the third antennasystem comprises detecting that the retransmission of the sourcewireless test signal by the third antenna system does not comparefavorably to the expected signal profile.
 4. The method of claim 2,wherein the identifying the third antenna system comprises receiving analert message from a fourth antenna system that performs the signal testwhile in communication with the third antenna system.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the fourth antenna system detects a communicationfailure at the third antenna system.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinresponsive to the detecting the communication failure, the fourthantenna system transmits an adjusted wireless signal that bypasses thethird antenna system and is directed to the second antenna system, theadjusted wireless signal including one of the plurality of returnedmessages.
 7. The method of claim 2, further comprising generating, bythe first antenna system, an alert associated with the operational faultidentified at the third antenna system.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the plurality of returned messages comprises a plurality ofwireless returned messages obtained from a control channel used by thedistributed antenna system.
 9. A first system, comprising: a processingsystem including a processor; and a memory that stores executableinstructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitateperformance of operations, comprising: transmitting a source test signaldirected to a second system of a distributed communication system for asequential retransmission of the source test signal by the second systemand a plurality of other systems of the distributed communicationsystem; receiving a plurality of returned messages from the secondsystem, wherein each of the plurality of returned messages includesinformation associated with a signal test performed by the second systemand at least one of the plurality of other systems, wherein the signaltest comprises a comparison of a retransmission of the source testsignal and an expected signal profile of the source test signal; anddetermining from the plurality of returned messages whether any one ofthe plurality of other systems is experiencing an operational fault. 10.The first system of claim 9, wherein the distributed communicationsystem comprises a distributed antenna system, and wherein the firstsystem, the second system, and the plurality of other systems comprisesan antenna system for transmitting and receiving wireless signals. 11.The first system of claim 10, wherein the source test signal comprises asource wireless test signal.
 12. The first system of claim 10, whereinthe plurality of returned messages comprises a plurality of returnedwireless messages.
 13. The first system of claim 10, wherein thedistributed communication system comprises a distributed waveguidecommunication system, and wherein the first system, the second system,and the plurality of other systems comprises a waveguide device fortransmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves that propagate along anouter surface of a transmission medium.
 14. The first system of claim13, wherein the source test signal comprises a source electromagneticwave that propagates along the outer surface of the transmission medium.15. The first system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of returnedmessages is embedded in electromagnetic waves that propagate along theouter surface of the transmission medium.
 16. The first system of claim9, wherein the operations further comprise, responsive to thedetermining, identifying a third system of the plurality of othersystems experiencing the operational fault.
 17. The first system ofclaim 16, wherein the identifying the third system comprises detectingthat the retransmission of the source test signal by the third systemdoes not compare favorably to the expected signal profile.
 18. The firstsystem of claim 16, wherein the identifying the third system comprisesreceiving an alert message from a fourth system that performs the signaltest while in communication with the third system.
 19. A first system,comprising: means for transmitting a source test signal directed to asecond system of a distributed communication system for a retransmissionof the source test signal by the second system and a plurality of othersystems of the distributed communication system; means for receiving aplurality of returned messages from the distributed communicationsystem, wherein each of the plurality of returned messages includesinformation associated with a signal test performed by at least one ofthe second system and the plurality of other systems, wherein the signaltest comprises a comparison of a retransmission of the source testsignal and an expected signal profile of the source test signal; andmeans for determining from the plurality of returned messages whetherany one of the second system and the plurality of other systems isexperiencing a degradation in transmission signal quality.
 20. The firstsystem of claim 19, wherein the source test signal comprises a wirelesssource test signal, a source electromagnetic wave test signal thatpropagates on an outer surface of a transmission medium, or acombination thereof, and wherein the plurality of returned messagescomprises a plurality of returned wireless messages, an electromagneticwave that conveys the plurality of returned messages, or a combinationthereof.